“President Trump said he had directed the Pentagon to pay military servicemembers next week, with the government shutdown expected to continue amid an impasse in Congress,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social on Saturday that he had directed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to ‘use all available funds’ to make sure troops receive their paychecks on Oct. 15. Military servicemembers have been expected next week to miss their first full paychecks since the shutdown began.”

Politico: “To scrounge up enough money to pay the troops, the Pentagon is tapping into its research and development accounts to use money Congress made available for two years.”

“Reverberations of the federal government shutdown, now in its second week, are starting to be felt by certain segments of Americans, hinting at problems that could deepen for the public if Congress cannot reach a funding agreement soon,” the New York Times reports.

“In some Native American communities, key medical services, such as diabetes monitoring and telehealth sessions, have been curtailed or canceled. Veterans no longer have access to career counseling or regional benefits offices. Taxpayers rushing to meet a Wednesday deadline for extended filing are going to have to wait on hold because fewer Internal Revenue Service customer service agents are working to answer questions.”

The Trump administration is warning states that there will be “insufficient funds” to pay full Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits if the government shutdown extends past October, Axios reports.

President Trump said that he plans to fire “a lot” of federal workers in retaliation for the government shutdown, vowing to target those deemed to be aligned with the Democratic Party, CNN reports.

Said Trump: “We figure they started this thing, so they should be Democrat-oriented.”

“In almost any other government shutdown, Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, both of Virginia, would probably top the list of Democrats most likely to try to find a quick off ramp,” the New York Times reports.

“They represent the state with the second-highest concentration of federal employees in the nation. Both have historically been eager to join the so-called bipartisan gangs of senators who try to negotiate their way through partisan gridlock.”

“Instead, the two have appeared remarkably dug in, even as President Trump and his top lieutenants have threatened to use the shutdown to drastically accelerate their campaign to reduce the size of the government. They say they are channeling federal workers who are furious at the White House’s ongoing assault on the bureaucracy and are urging their representatives in Congress to keep up the fight.”

“Elon Musk once pledged that his Department of Government Efficiency would find $1 trillion in savings in the federal budget by Sept. 30, the date the government closes its books on the fiscal year,” the New York Times reports.

“That date has now come and gone, Mr. Musk has long since left Washington, and DOGE never came close to cutting as much money as he promised. But because its work has been obscured by crude accounting and White House maneuvers, it’s impossible to know how much DOGE and its allies actually did cut from the budget — or even what happened to that money.”

“Outside budget experts can’t nail down a number. Even congressional appropriators — the people who decide how federal funds should be spent in the first place — don’t know. And the public may never have a clear answer.”