Thune lines up latest test for Senate Dems

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The Big Story

Thune to force Democrats to vote on troop pay

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) plans to force Democrats to vote next week on legislation to pay more than 1 million military service members during the government shutdown, according to Senate GOP sources.

© J. Scott Applewhite, Associated Press

Thune and Senate Republicans are doubling down on their strategy of highlighting the plight of military families.

Thune on Wednesday put a bill sponsored by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) to pay members of the military during the shutdown on the Senate calendar, setting it up for a vote as soon as next week.

President Trump has directed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to use “all available funds” to make sure active-duty service members and their families don’t miss paychecks during the shutdown and Pentagon officials have identified $8 billion in unspent research, development and technology funds to cover troops’ pay during the early part of the shutdown.

Johnson’s bill would ensure that service members continue to get paid once those unobligated funds identified by the administration run out.

Thune told Politico in a hallway interview that the bill would give Democrats a “chance to vote to pay the military next week.”

The GOP leader forced Democrats to vote Thursday on the $852 billion annual Defense appropriations bill, which Democrats blocked on a vote of 50 to 44. It needed 60 votes to advance.