Bessent Says US Will ‘Prioritize Payments’ During Government Shutdown

In order to allow U.S. military staff to get paid during the government shutdown, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is reportedly prioritizing payments in a way some of his predecessors said during previous budget clashes could not be done.

Bessent told Fox Business Monday (Oct. 13) that the Treasury Department is “having to prioritize payments,” Bloomberg reported Monday.

“We are having to hold back on some payments so that our brave men and women in the U.S. military can get paid,” Bessent said, per the report. “So we are having to shuffle things around.”

During a previous debt limit showdown, former Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said, according to the Bloomberg report: “Treasury systems have all been built to pay all of our bills when they’re due and on time, and not to prioritize one form of spending over another.”

In September 2021, several former Treasury secretaries said in a letter that the department could not prioritize payments, per the report.

Vice President JD Vance told Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” program that the Trump administration will pay the troops by using incoming revenues to the Internal Revenue Service, including both tariff revenue and income tax revenue, and by “tightening the belts in other areas,” according to the report.

“We are confident we have identified the legal pathways in order to do this,” Vance said.

It was reported Monday that some federal employees are turning to side gigs amid layoffs and the government shutdown.

While government workers were among the least likely to pick up side gigs during the COVID-19 pandemic, that could be changing as many furloughed employees have extra time and are concerned about whether they will get back pay.

Beyond government workers, other sectors have also been impacted by the shutdown.

It was reported Wednesday (Oct. 8) that small businesses were being affected by the shutdown putting a halt to government-backed lending, agencies awarding or making payments on new contracts, and inspections and regulatory reviews.

Also on Wednesday, it was reported that America’s travel economy suffered $1 billion in lost spending in the first week of the government shutdown.