A mystery donor has come forward, donating $130m to the US Pentagon to cover shortfalls in paying the country's 1.32m service members during a government shutdown that is now in its 26th day.
President Donald Trump has praised the unidentified donor, who he described as "a big supporter of mine", saying they provided the funds on condition that it be used to offset the cost of paying service members' salaries and benefits. The Pentagon spokesman confirmed that the donation was accepted under the department's general gift acceptance authority.
Trump had earlier hinted at a possible donation but declined to identify the donor, saying they didn't want recognition. However, sources have identified the benefactor as billionaire Timothy Mellon, who is the heir to his influential family's $15bn fortune and has been involved in various business ventures before becoming more politically active.
The donation amounts to around $100 per servicemember, bringing some relief to troops who are facing their first missed payday due to the shutdown. However, critics have raised concerns about the anonymous nature of the funds and whether they could be seen as a way for foreign powers to influence US military operations.
The White House has been working to find ways to keep the military paid during the shutdown, with some funds being reallocated from research projects. However, lawmakers in Congress have so far failed to pass a bill that would guarantee continued payment to troops and other government workers.
With over 800,000 federal employees furloughed or working without pay, the shutdown has caused significant disruption to government services and economic activity. The prolonged shutdown is now poised to become one of the longest in US history.
President Donald Trump has praised the unidentified donor, who he described as "a big supporter of mine", saying they provided the funds on condition that it be used to offset the cost of paying service members' salaries and benefits. The Pentagon spokesman confirmed that the donation was accepted under the department's general gift acceptance authority.
Trump had earlier hinted at a possible donation but declined to identify the donor, saying they didn't want recognition. However, sources have identified the benefactor as billionaire Timothy Mellon, who is the heir to his influential family's $15bn fortune and has been involved in various business ventures before becoming more politically active.
The donation amounts to around $100 per servicemember, bringing some relief to troops who are facing their first missed payday due to the shutdown. However, critics have raised concerns about the anonymous nature of the funds and whether they could be seen as a way for foreign powers to influence US military operations.
The White House has been working to find ways to keep the military paid during the shutdown, with some funds being reallocated from research projects. However, lawmakers in Congress have so far failed to pass a bill that would guarantee continued payment to troops and other government workers.
With over 800,000 federal employees furloughed or working without pay, the shutdown has caused significant disruption to government services and economic activity. The prolonged shutdown is now poised to become one of the longest in US history.
. It's actually kind of cool that there's some good Samaritan out there who wants to help, even if it is anonymous. But at the same time, I'm also getting a little uneasy about this - what's to stop someone with ulterior motives from doing something similar? It's like, we should be grateful for the help, but we shouldn't let our guard down either 
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. It just goes to show how messed up the system is right now, and we need more people like this mysterious donor (or billionaire Timothy Mellon) coming in to help out 
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! $130m is a HUGE amount of cash 
. I mean, can you imagine not getting paid for a month? It's mental 
Just saying, maybe we should be more transparent about where our money's coming from 
still, i guess it's better than nothing. the government should really figure out how to handle these things sooner rather than later... this shutdown is getting old 
The fact that the Pentagon accepted the donation under a general gift acceptance authority is pretty shady too... should've at least had some transparency on this one. And can we talk about how much of a mess this shutdown is? 800k+ employees furloughed or working without pay? 
