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OMB Shifts $5.3 Billion to Pay Troops This Week as Shutdown Drags On

The stopgap taps housing, research, procurement accounts, leaving SNAP benefits without relief.

Overview

  • White House officials say OMB assembled roughly $5.3 billion by moving $2.5 billion from a military housing fund, $1.4 billion from Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, and $1.4 billion from a Navy procurement account to meet Friday’s payroll.
  • An OMB official confirmed the transfers, and reporting noted a separate $130 million private donation to the Pentagon that covers only a small fraction of biweekly troop pay needs.
  • Senior officials signaled the administration intends to keep paying the military using such reprogramming and does not plan to shift negotiating posture while troops receive pay.
  • USDA programs face shortfalls, with SNAP access set to lapse for as many as 42 million people and WIC funding also running low according to administration statements.
  • Two dozen states filed suit over SNAP cuts, and the federal employee union AFGE urged Congress to pass a clean continuing resolution as roughly 800,000 workers go without pay.