Congressional Republicans Slam Jeffries for Not Backing Military Pay Bill

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., has come out against a standalone Senate bill to pay American military service members and some other federal workers.

Jeffries’ public opposition comes as thousands of federal employees have been left in the lurch as the federal government shutdown drags into its fourth week.

The New York Democrat said at a press conference Monday that the Republican-backed legislation to pay essential federal workers, including military members, “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.” 

Rep. Barry Moore, R-Ala., who is running for the U.S. Senate, told The Daily Signal, “It’s disappointing, but not surprising, to hear Minority Leader Jeffries call paying our troops during a shutdown a ‘political ploy.’”

“There’s nothing political about making sure our service members and their families can put food on the table. House Republicans will always stand firm behind our men and women who defend this country, while Democrats in Washington play politics,” the Alabama congressman said, adding:

Our troops shouldn’t be caught in the middle of Democrats’ partisan games. They deserve better.

As a member of Congress, Jeffries—unlike the thousands of furloughed federal workers—does not face going without pay for the duration of the shutdown. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., has said he will have the House consider the military personnel legislation should it clear the 60-vote threshold in the Senate. Whether that happens will likely be up to Senate Democrats, who tanked a bill last week to fund the Department of War.

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, told The Daily Signal, “Democrats have been given nearly a dozen opportunities to pass a bill to keep our government open, and every time they have chosen the shutdown.”

“Now, top Democrats refuse to even pay the troops and federal workers. They’re more invested in hating President Trump than helping Americans,” the Utah senator said.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, blamed political dynamics for the harm of the shutdown. In addition to the challenges facing federal workers, the Smithsonian museums and National Zoo have been closed to the public.

“[Democrats] don’t care about the people who are being negatively affected. They care about their political base and their political fortunes. And that’s sad,” the Texas lawmaker said.

President Donald Trump has tried to partially compensate for the Democrat obstruction of GOP efforts to fund the government by reallocating about $8 billion of research funds that were not used during the prior fiscal year to pay military service members.

Federal employees who are not getting paid will be given back pay by law once the shutdown ends. 

Rep. Riley Moore, R-W.Va., told The Daily Signal that Jeffries and his Senate counterpart, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., were “holding the American people, especially our brave troops, hostage just to score political points with their radical leftist base.”

“The only answer is for Democrats to put their pride aside and end the shutdown immediately,” the West Virginia congressman said.

Some prominent Democrats have expressed fear about the repercussions for them from the Left if they vote to fund the government, going so far as to analogize the potential backlash to “getting the guillotine.”

“Democrats like Jeffries and [Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga.] would rather hold our troops’ pay hostage and throw our country in turmoil than risk upsetting their radical base. It’s dangerous and cowardly,” said Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., who is seeking the GOP nomination to run against Ossoff in 2026.

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