$130M anonymous donation to pay military personnel
Oct. 24 (UPI) — An anonymous ally of President Donald Trump has donated $130 million that will help to pay the U.S. military during the ongoing federal government shutdown.
The Defense Department confirmed the donation on Friday and said it is intended to fund the military.
“The donation was made on the condition that it be used to offset the cost of service members’ salaries and benefits,” Defense Department spokesman Sean Parnell told CNN.
Parnell said the funds were donated via the Pentagon’s general gift acceptance authority.
While the donation will help the military to pay service members, it is not enough to fully pay its 1.3 million personnel.
It also might be a violation of the Anti-Deficiency Act, which prohibits federal agencies from spending more than Congress has appropriated for them, according to The New York Times.
The federal government can accept donations that go to its general fund, but Congress has to appropriate those funds to pay for the salaries of federal employees, including the military, Romina Boccia, the Cato Institute’s director of budget and entitlement policy, told Fox News.
“The department is welcome to acknowledge this donor’s intent, but that does not change the legal restrictions on Congress needing to appropriate funds to pay military salaries,” Boccia said.
Private donations to the military only can be used to support military schools, museums, libraries and similar institutions, she said.
They also can be used to support service members or civilian workers who are killed or wounded while carrying out their duties, Boccia added.
Trump earlier in October ordered the Pentagon to redirect money intended for research and development to pay the military, but House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said that option won’t last.
The Senate recently voted on a measure that would have funded the military, but Senate Democrats mostly voted against it, which caused it to fail.