Name: Legal questions over Trump plan to pay troops amid shutdown
Uploaded: 2025-10-29T00:10:20.025Z
Duration: 2 min 30 s
Description: Vice President JD Vance says the Trump administration has found a way to pay U.S. troops this week, as the government shutdown drags on. But some legal experts and lawmakers are raising concerns about how the White House can secure these paychecks.

Vice President JD Vance says the Trump administration has found a way to pay U.S. troops this week, as the government shutdown drags on. But some legal experts and lawmakers are raising concerns about how the White House can secure these paychecks.

Washington

The Trump administration has announced a plan to pay U.S. troops during an ongoing government shutdown, prompting legal scrutiny from experts and lawmakers. The administration claims it can move funds to cover military pay, but questions have arisen regarding the legality of this action, as Congress holds constitutional authority over federal spending. 

Legal analysts highlight that the U.S. Constitution and the Anti-Deficiency Act generally prohibit the executive branch from reallocating funds without congressional approval. While the administration previously used tariff revenues to fund certain nutrition programs, there is little precedent for the current approach. The debate centers on whether the White House can make such funding decisions without explicit appropriations from Congress.

Legal questions over Trump plan to pay troops amid shutdown

Vice President J.D. Vance says the Trump administration has found a way to pay U.S. troops this week as the government shutdown drags on. But some legal experts and lawmakers are raising concerns about how the White House is able to secure these paychecks. About three weeks ago, Axios first reported the Office of Management and Budget sent a memo to Congress trying to prove that President Trump has a right to move money around to pay troops. And earlier this month, the Trump administration said it used tariff revenues to continue funding the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, or WIC. That program provides assistance to more than 6 million low-income young and expectant mothers and their children. For more, let's bring in CBS News legal contributor Jessica Levinson. She's also a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. So, Jessica, what are some of the legal hurdles coming up surrounding these funding efforts? Is there precedent for it? There really isn't precedent for much of what you talked about. So I think the biggest legal hurdle is for us to remember that when it comes to spending money, let's all think back to high school. Congress has the power of the purse. Under the Constitution, the Constitution gives Congress the spending authority. And it is absolutely the case that the president then carries into execution Congress's appropriations, but doesn't make appropriations on his own. So when we're thinking about a lot of these funding decisions, I think what we really need to start with is just, is this a new funding decision? And there is a federal statute that also speaks to this question. It's not just the Constitution. It's the Anti-Deficiency Act, which essentially says if Congress has not appropriated money for this purpose, or if Congress will in the future potentially appropriate the money, you can't use it now. And that's part of, I think, the legal challenge here is moving money from one bucket to another and trying to move money that you think you might get in the future. And as we mentioned, the White House is only paying some federal workers, mainly those in law enforcement and the military. So is there an issue with this in particular? So I think the issue really comes from spending the money and not having Congress have appropriated those funds. In terms of is the issue that it's just going to certain people, I think that's a separate question and maybe that's more of a policy question than the legal question of, can you do this? Can you opt to pay anyone at all? Jessica Levinson, thank you.

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