Hakeem Jeffries Calls Bill To Pay Troops During Shutdown ‘Political Ploy’

Congressional Democrats are coming out hard against Republican-led efforts to alleviate the worst impacts of the government shutdown.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told the 🏢Daily Caller News Foundation on Monday that he opposed standalone legislation to pay troops and federal employees reporting to work during the funding lapse. Democratic lawmakers are showing few signs of ending the 20-day long shutdown despite millions of federal employees facing mounting financial stress due to the prospect of missing their next paycheck.

“It appears to be more like a political ploy giving Donald Trump discretion over which employees should be compensated and which employees should not be compensated,” Jeffries said during a press conference in the U.S. Capitol. “All employees should be compensated, and that will happen when we reopen the government.”

Though President Donald Trump tapped unused Pentagon funds to avert a pay lapse for U.S. service members, they are still at risk of missing their salary during the next pay period. Federal employees are slated to miss their first full paycheck on Friday due to the funding lapse.

The Senate bill would pay the cohort of federal employees who are reporting to work during the shutdown.

Jeffries invoked healthcare when arguing why he could not support the legislation to pay military personnel and some federal workers. Democrats