Trump admin broke the law as anonymous ‘friend’ pays troops during shutdown: ex-GOP aide

In the past, lawmakers have approved conditions for government shutdowns that ensured national security and the military continued to receive pay despite the closure. However, during the recent government shutdown, those conditions were not in place.

In response, President Donald Trump devised a strategy to bypass Congress’s decision not to approve funding for the military and national security. The Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019 guaranteed retroactive pay for federal employees affected by any appropriations lapses starting on or after December 22, 2018. While this assured back pay, it left employees unpaid during the shutdown itself.

On Friday, CNN reported that Trump has an “anonymous donor” who intends to funnel money directly to the Pentagon. However, this move raises legal concerns.

Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell told CNN, “The donation was made on the condition that it be used to offset the cost of Service members’ salaries and benefits.” Parnell also explained that the Pentagon accepted the donation under the department’s “general gift acceptance authority.”

According to President Trump, the donation came from “a friend of mine” and was given with the explicit purpose of covering funding shortfalls.

Senator Dick Durbin’s (D-IL) spokesperson informed CNN that they are seeking more information about “how this gift—and other recent reprogramming—complies with the Antideficiency Act.”

The Antideficiency Act prohibits all federal agencies from using funds that have not been allocated to them by Congress.

Bill Hoagland, a former Republican Senate budget aide and current senior vice president at the Bipartisan Policy Center, told CNN that this approach is not legal. “The Antideficiency Act is explicit that private donations cannot be used to offset a lapse in appropriations,” he said. “I think they could accept it, but they could not use it for that purpose because the law is very clear.”

Read the full report here.
https://www.rawstory.com/government-shutdown-military-pay/

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