Oct. 13 (UPI) — Members of the U.S. Coast Guard will continue to get paid despite the government shutdown, according to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who said they had found “an innovative solution” to ensure no paychecks are owed to those protecting America’s seas.
Noem did not explain the solution to pay the Coast Guard amid the political stalemate that has seen hundreds of thousands of federal workers furloughed.
“The brave men and women of the U.S. Coast Guard will not miss a paycheck this week as they continue to carry out their critical homeland security and military missions,” Noem said in a Monday statement.
The federal government shut down on Oct. 1 as Congress failed to pass an appropriations bill to keep it funded into the new year.
Democrats said they will only support a bill that extends and restores Affordable Care Act premium tax credits, arguing that failing to do so would raise healthcare costs for some 20 million Americans.
Republicans, who control the House, Senate and the presidency, are seeking a so-called clean funding bill that includes no changes. They argue that the Democrats are fighting to provide undocumented migrants with taxpayer-funded healthcare, even though federal law does not permit them from receiving Medicaid or ACA premium tax credits.
Coast Guard paychecks are paid by the Department of Homeland Security, while military troops are paid by the Department of Defense.
On Saturday, President Donald Trump said he was directing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to “use all available funds to get our Troops PAID” on time.
“We have identified funds to do this, and Secretary Hegseth will use them to PAY OUR TROOPS,” he said in a statement on his Truth Social platform, while blaming the Democrats for the government shutdown.
“The Radical Left Democrats should OPEN THE GOVERNMENT, and then we can work together to address Healthcare, and many other things that they want to destroy,” he said.
The Department of Defense will reportedly use about $8 billion of research and development funding from last year to pay service members on Wednesday if the government does not reopen by then.
The legality of shifting the Congress-approved funds was unclear.
Asked about the appropriation of the funds on Sunday during CBS News’ Face the Nation, Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., replied, “probably not.”
“I think to pay the military during a shutdown would require legislation,” he said.