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Trump directs Pentagon to ‘use all available funds’ to pay troops during shutdown
Donald Trump is directing US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth to pay military personnel despite the federal government shutdown.
The president said on Saturday that Hegseth must make sure troops do not miss out on their regular paycheque, scheduled for Wednesday. The directive comes as other government employees have already had some pay withheld and others are being laid off.
“I will not allow the Democrats to hold our Military, and the entire Security of our Nation, HOSTAGE, with their dangerous Government Shutdown,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.
The Republican and Democratic parties blame each other for failing to agree on a spending plan to reopen the government.
Trump’s message asks Hegseth to “use all available funds to get our Troops PAID” on 15 October, when military personnel would see their pay withheld for the first time since the shutdown began on 1 October.
Many US military employees are considered “essential”, meaning they must still show up for duty without pay. Some 750,000 other federal employees – about 40% – have been furloughed, or sent home, also without pay.
Furloughed employees are legally supposed to receive back-pay after a shutdown ends and they return to work, but the Trump administration has insinuated this might not happen.
“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,” Trump posted on Saturday.
Democrats have refused to vote for a Republican spending plan that would reopen the government after nearly 12 days shut down, saying any resolution must preserve expiring tax credits that reduce health insurance costs for millions of Americans and reverse Trump’s cuts to Medicaid, the healthcare program for elderly and low-income people.
Republicans accuse Democrats of unnecessarily bringing the government to a halt, and blame them for the knock-on effects caused by the federal work stoppage.
Finding a way to pay for military salaries could help reduce some of the political risk for congressional leaders if the shutdown drags on.
In an effort to pressure Democrats, the Trump administration has also begun laying off thousands of government workers, an unprecedented move during a shutdown.
“The RIFs have begun,” White House Office of Management Director Russell Vought announced in a post on X on Friday morning, referring to an acronym for “reductions in force”.
The administration disclosed later on Friday that seven agencies had started firing more than 4,000 people, making good on the president’s repeated threats to use the shutdown to further his long-held goal of reducing the federal workforce.
The reductions included dozens of employees at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), according to the BBC’s US partner CBS news, citing sources familiar with the situation.
The agency’s entire Washington DC office was laid off, the sources told CBS, adding that among the laid-off employees were those working on the CDC’s Mortality and Morbidity Weekly Report, the agency’s Ebola response and immunisations. There were also reductions in the human resources department, they said.
Andrew Nixon, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the CDC, told CBS that the let-go workers were not essential, and that “HHS continues to close wasteful and duplicative entities, including those that are at odds with the Trump administration’s Make America Healthy Again agenda”.
Employees at the Treasury Department and in the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency in the Department of Homeland Security were also among those laid off on Friday, those agencies confirmed.
The American Federation of Government Employees and AFL-CIO, two major unions representing federal workers, have filed a lawsuit in northern California, asking a judge to temporarily block the layoff orders.
“It is disgraceful that the Trump administration has used the government shutdown as an excuse to illegally fire thousands of workers who provide critical services to communities across the country,” AFGE president Everett Kelley said.
A spokesman from the White House budget office told the BBC on Saturday that the layoffs were just the beginning.
“These RIF numbers from the court filing are just a snapshot in time,” he said. “More RIFs are coming.”
In a court filing opposing the unions’ request for a temporary restraining order, the justice department revealed that agencies such as the Departments of Education, Housing and Urban Development, Commerce and Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency could also see staff cuts.
The government lawyers said the labour unions had failed to establish that their members would be irreparably harmed by the layoffs, which is needed for the judge to grant the restraining order. But they said a restraining order would “irreparably harm the government”.
[BBC]
Thirty-six (36) naval personnel completed an eight-month Basic Marine Qualification Course and received their Marine insignia at the main parade ground of SLNS Vidura in Sampur, Trincomalee today, (29 August 2026).
At the invitation of Commandant SLNS Vidura, Captain Ravindu Harischandra, the ceremony was graced by Rear Admiral Buddhika Liyanagamage, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Navy and Commander Eastern Naval Area.
The group, comprising 3 officers and 33 sailors, completed the 10th intake of the Basic Marine Qualification Course, after volunteering for the demanding training programme.
In recognition of exceptional performance during the training, trophies were presented to outstanding personnel. Lieutenant (S) VPA Sasanka was awarded trophies for Best Marine of the Course, Highest Aggregate in Overall Subjects, and Best Marksman.
Physical Training Instructor WMGDP Bandara received the trophy for Best Physical Fitness. Addressing the newly qualified personnel,
Rear Admiral Liyanagamage congratulated them on successfully completing the course. He urged them to use the skills and experience gained through their training to contribute to safeguarding the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
He also called on them to apply the courage and determination developed during the course both in their professional and personal lives, and to remain prepared to meet any challenge faced by the country.
He stressed the importance of keeping their knowledge and training up to date and maintaining constant vigilance while carrying out their duties.
Rear Admiral Liyanagamage also expressed his appreciation to
the Commanding Officer of SLNS Vidura and the directing staff for their contribution to the successful completion of the course.
The insignia ceremony also included a demonstration showcasing the capabilities and skills of the Sri Lanka Navy Marine.
Rear Admiral Achala Silva, Director General Logistics; Rear Admiral Kusal Dissanayake, Commandant Naval Infantry; Commodore Sanjeewa Kodikara, Director Marine; officers
from Navy Headquarters and the Eastern Naval Area; senior officers from the Army, Air Force and Police; and parents of the newly passed out marine personnel attended the ceremony.
Water levels in the lake which formed amid the debris of the landslide in Tibet are rising once again, according to Chinese state media.
There is a continued risk of secondary mudslides or landslides, the report adds.
The command team in charge of rescue efforts around Gyirong port, the main land border between Nepal and Tibet, have launched drones and set up observations posts to monitor the slopes and provide an early warning system to rescuers working nearby.
Search teams are making the most of a short weather window to try to find survivors.
Work is also underway to try to re-open the road.
(Aljazeera)
More than 600 people have died following Wednesday’s devastating flash flood in Nepal.
An update from Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction & Management Authority (NDRRMA) confirms the figure as 626 and the number of people missing as 2,426, as rescue operations continue for the fourth day
Emergency teams are warning that rain is making it difficult to reach some of the worst affected areas, our correspondent in Trishuli writes
Families of the missing – including at least 517 foreign nationals – are waiting for news on the whereabouts of their loved ones
(Aljazeera)
Thirty-six naval personnel pass out on successful completion of Marine training
Ex-White House teleprompter operator ordered to pay $172,000 for Trump speech bets
Rescuers on high alert for signs of secondary landslides
More than 600 killed in Nepal flood as search for survivors enters fourth day
Norway mourns King Harald as Haakon VIII ascends throne
Trump announces ‘biggest oil deal in world history’ with Venezuela
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
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