"By ordering that US military personnel receive paychecks even though the government is shut down, Donald Trump is seeing to the needs of a politically untouchable constituency that has been caught up in the congressional logjam over federal spending. But experts who spoke to the Guardian warn that he is doing so in a way that is almost certainly illegal and, if left unchecked, bodes ill for Congress's constitutional authority to control government spending."
"I'm with the people who believe that there's really no good legal justification for moving the money around in this way, said Phil Wallach, a senior fellow at the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute who focuses on the separation of powers in the US government. There's no congressional authorization for troop payment for this new fiscal year. So it's going pretty far out on a legal limb, and just sort of daring anybody to do anything about it."
"The federal government shut down at the start of October after Democrats and Republicans in Congress failed to agree on legislation to extend funding beyond the end of September. About 700,000 federal workers have been furloughed, while hundreds of thousands of others continue to report to work, but are not getting paychecks. Troops were paid during previous government shutdowns because Congress had either approved defense department spending, or passed bills specifically to guarantee their salaries."
Donald Trump ordered US military personnel to receive paychecks during a government shutdown. Legal experts warn the action is almost certainly illegal and risks eroding Congress's constitutional power over spending. Phil Wallach of the American Enterprise Institute said there is no congressional authorization for troop payments for the new fiscal year and characterized the move as a legal stretch. The shutdown began in October after Congress failed to agree on funding, furloughing about 700,000 federal workers while many others worked without pay. Previous shutdowns saw troops paid only after specific congressional actions or defense approvals.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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