How Trump is still paying troops despite government shutdown

The U.S. government shutdown has entered its 31st day with no end in sight, leaving thousands of employees working without pay.

Previously, the government was successful in getting the paychecks delivered to the troops and now the administration has again claimed that they will be able to pay them using a mix of legislative and defense funds.

How is the government paying troops despite shutdown?

President Trump has directed the Department of Defense to use all the unspent funds, particularly from the research and development allocations to pay the troops.

Recently, the Pentagon also accepted a $130 million "anonymous" donation from a friend of Trump to pay the service members.

According to an official from the White House Office of Management and Budget, the government is planning to use the following funds for Friday's paycheck.

• $2.5 billion from the military housing fund
• $1.4 billion from the Pentagon's research and development account
• $1.4 billion from its procurement account

It makes a total of $5.3 billion which is still less than $6.5 billion needed to pay all the troops. Therefore, some of the service members will have to wait for their salary.

If successful, this would mark the second time the Trump administration has managed to deliver paychecks to soldiers during a government shutdown.