As I wrote about a few days ago, the timely paychecks for our military appeared to be in jeopardy. Our finest president, President Donald Trump, has done the right thing: he has ordered that “all available funds” must be used to ensure that military pay appears in bank accounts on Wednesday morning. It is too late now for their pay to appear tomorrow in bank accounts where an early payday is available.
Indeed, the Pentagon is under strict presidential order to do whatever it takes to pay members of our military, all of whom are severely overpaid, but that’s an argument for another day. Right now, the goal is to get them paid, even if they’re getting too much from taxpayer dollars. Oops, there I go again!
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was sent Trump’s order, so it is now his job to ensure that every one of the 1.3 million soldiers, Marines, airmen or whatever else will wake up to excessive funds in their overstuffed bank accounts.
It’s unclear right now where exactly Trump expects Hegseth to draw funds from, but there has to be some sort of reserve fund somewhere. Whatever happens, the ball is now in Hegseth’s court and he will have to move fast on Monday morning to ensure that banks have the means to deposit military pay on Wednesday morning at the latest.
As it stands right now, servicepersons with bank accounts at institutions where two-day early payday is offered will have to wait until Tuesday, possibly. Remember though: early payday is dependent upon banks receiving payment files. If the banks don’t get information until Wednesday morning, then they’ll simply have to wait.
Though troops will likely not enjoy early pay this time around, it looks as if they’ll get paid on time, and that’s all they can really ask for. Regardless of my opinions regarding military pay being way too high, they are doing their jobs and are therefore entitled to timely pay, even in the face of a federal government shutdown.
The only people who might not get timely pay are those who are under the employ of the Coast Guard. As we all know, the Coast Guard is not truly a part of our military. They’re a joke, really, but definitely not military. They are an offshoot of the Department of Homeland Security.
So will those serving in our military wake up to their pay on Wednesday? Only time will tell.