Treasury Secretary Warns US Won’t Be Able to Pay Military by Nov. 15

The warning comes in the fourth week of the ongoing government shutdown.

U.S. Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent (C) reacts during a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Oct. 26, 2025. Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that active military service members will miss their paychecks by Nov. 15 if the government shutdown persists, while suggesting that it’s not certain that all of them will be paid at the start of November.

“I think we'll be able to pay them beginning in November, but by Nov. 15 our troops and service members who are willing to risk their lives aren’t going to be able to get paid,” Bessent said during CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday morning.