As the Pentagon plans to put a $130 million donation from an anonymous "friend" of President Donald Trump toward military salaries, the largest federation of unions in the United States on Friday demanded that federal lawmakers "stop playing political games" and pay all workers affected by the government shutdown.
"As the government shutdown drags into its fourth week, 1.4 million federal workers and at least 1 million federal contractors have missed a paycheck and will soon miss another if Congress fails to act," the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) noted in a statement.
The government shut down at the beginning of October because Republicans—who have majorities in both chambers of Congress—wanted to maintain their funding plans, while Democrats sought to undo the GOP's recent Medicaid cuts and extend expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies so millions of Americans don't lose their healthcare.
Republicans were able to get their funding proposal through the US House of Representatives, but their narrow control of the Senate means they require some Democratic support to pass most bills. The AFL-CIO released a letter that its director of advocacy, Jody Calemine, sent to all senators on Thursday.
"Workers and their families should not be used as pawns."
Calemine called on them to support Sen. Chris Van Hollen's (D-Md.) True Shutdown Fairness Act, which would provide backpay and continued pay to federal workers, contractors, and military personnel during the shutdown, as well as Sen. Gary Peters' (D-Mich.) Military and Federal Employee Protection Act, which would provide an immediate backpay installment.
"These workers—military, civilian, and private sector alike—serve the American people day in and day out in myriad ways," Calemine wrote. "Many federal workers, along with the military, have been required to perform their duties without pay. Other federal workers and contractors want to work but have been furloughed and locked out from their jobs. While the paychecks have stopped, the bills have not. Rent needs to be paid. Mortgage payments are due. Groceries must be bought."
"Sadly, their financial pain is being used as political leverage. The Trump administration has been exacerbating their hardship and anxiety, announcing unlawful, permanent reductions-in-force while blaming a temporary shutdown and threatening to deny federal workers backpay in violation of the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act," Calemine continued. "Workers and their families should not be used as pawns."
The letter was sent before the Senate voted on both bills, which Republicans blocked on Thursday. All Democrats except Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania and Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, both of Georgia, also opposed Sen. Ron Johnson's (R-Wis.) bill that would have paid members of the military and some federal workers who are not furloughed.
Also on Thursday, Trump told reporters at the White House that "a friend of mine" who didn't want public recognition had made a donation toward military salaries, adding, "That's what I call a patriot."
Sean Parnell, the Pentagon's chief spokesperson, confirmed in a Friday statement that the US Department of Defense had accepted the donation "under its general gift acceptance authority."
"The donation was made on the condition that it be used to offset the cost of service members' salaries and benefits," he said. "We are grateful for this donor's assistance after Democrats opted to withhold pay from troops."
According to the Associated Press:
While the $130 million is a hefty sum, it would cover just a fraction of the billions needed for military paychecks. Trump said the donation was to cover any “shortfall.”
What’s unclear, however, is the regulations around such a donation.
“That’s crazy,” said Max Stier, president and CEO of the Partnership for Public Service, a nonpartisan organization focused on the federal government. “It’s treating the payment of our uniformed services as if someone’s picking up your bar tab.”
CNN reported that critics have raised concerns that taking the $130 million may run afoul of the Pentagon's gift acceptance authority and the Antideficiency Act—and "congressional appropriators on both sides of the aisle said Friday that they were seeking more information from the administration about the specifics of the donation, but had yet to receive any explanation."
Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), the ranking member on the chamber's defense appropriations subcommittee, said in a statement that "using anonymous donations to fund our military raises troubling questions of whether our own troops are at risk of literally being bought and paid for by foreign powers."
Sharing CNN's report on social media, the watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington wrote: "This should go without saying, but the American government should be funded by the American people, not anonymous megadonor friends of the president. This is not how things should work in a democracy—this raises all sorts of legal and ethical alarms."
Meanwhile, the House clerk on Friday read a message from Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) designating October 27-November 2 as a district work period. Responding on social media, Congressman Jason Crow (D-Colo.) said: "Republicans just extended their vacation AGAIN. Trump is heading to Asia. All as the government is shutdown. A total failure of leadership."
