House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Saturday cast blame on Democrats for a looming lapse in military pay as the shutdown impasse persists, pointing to seven failed votes in the Senate to pass his stopgap funding bill.
“HR 5371 (the Continuing Resolution) is the bill to pay our troops,” he wrote on social platform X. “No one in the military or any military family should have their pay blocked on October 15! Since the bill ALREADY PASSED THE HOUSE, a simple yes vote by five more Democrats on Tuesday would allow the military to be paid on Wednesday.”
The Speaker added, “Call your Democrat Senator and insist they stop hurting the families who already sacrifice so much!”
Johnson has faced a push from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to recall lawmakers to Washington to vote on a standalone bill to ensure military workers receive their checks next week — even if the government does not reopen. Instead, he announced Friday that House votes would not take place until a funding bill is passed.
More than 1.3 million military personnel are at risk of missing out on a paycheck come Oct. 15 if the government remains shuttered. With their roles considered essential for national security purposes, many service members still have to work without pay.
Federal workers received a paycheck on Friday — but only for the period ending on Sept. 30, a day before funding lapsed.
Earlier Friday, the Louisiana Republican suggested that President Trump — who supported a standalone bill — is looking for options to pay military workers without congressional action. The president also told Navy sailors last Sunday that the did not have to worry about back pay.
He also told reporters that Democratic lawmakers are the “ones that are demonstrating over and over and over now eight times that they don’t want” the military to be paid.
Trump echoed the Speaker’s concerns Saturday, writing on Truth Social that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Democrats are responsible for any missed checks.
“Chuck Schumer recently said, ‘Every day gets better’ during their Radical Left Shutdown. I DISAGREE! If nothing is done, because of ‘Leader’ Chuck Schumer and the Democrats, our Brave Troops will miss the paychecks they are rightfully due on October 15th,” he wrote.
“That is why I am using my authority, as Commander in Chief, to direct our Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to use all available funds to get our Troops PAID on October 15th,” the president continued. “We have identified funds to do this, and Secretary Hegseth will use them to PAY OUR TROOPS. I will not allow the Democrats to hold our Military, and the entire Security of our Nation, HOSTAGE, with their dangerous Government Shutdown.”
Senators departed Washington on Thursday following the last failed vote, guaranteeing that the shutdown will stretch into next week. Democrats have been largely unified in their demands for health care concessions making it a steep climb for the GOP to reach the 60-vote threshold needed for the bill to advance.
If passed, the CR would fund the government at Biden-era levels until Nov. 21.
Updated at 1:55 p.m. EDT.
, 2025-10-11 16:13:00, 
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