Trump's shutdown funding workarounds are on shaky legal ground

"The big picture: Federal employees don't get paid during a government shutdown, but the White House has redirected funds to ensure that some workers - mainly the military and law enforcement - keep getting their paychecks. Spending money, in ways Congress didn't authorize, is likely illegal, lawyers and policy experts say. Catch up quick: The administration paid the troops by diverting $8 billion in funds allocated for military research and development. There is no apparent precedent for pulling this type of maneuver in a shutdown."

"In a five-page memo first reported by Axios the Office of Management and Budget argued that presidents can do this in emergencies where national security is at risk, pointing to George Washington in the 1794 Whisky Rebellion and Abraham Lincoln in the Civil War, among others. The White House is also paying a select group of federal workers - mainly those in law enforcement, including deportation officers, air marshals and certain FBI workers - WaPost recently reported. It's unclear where those funds are coming from."

""What President Trump did is perfectly legal and constitutional," Mark Paoletta, OMB's general counsel, said in a post on X. The White House also pulled off a different workaround to fund a food aid program threatened by the shutdown. That likely was legal, experts told Axios, because it relied on transfer authority that's written in the law. The administration isn't finding funds for everything - the Agriculture Department says it can't use contingency funds to pay for food stamps, according to a memo first obtained by Axios."

Federal employees normally do not get paid during a government shutdown, but the White House redirected funds to ensure pay for some workers, chiefly the military and certain law enforcement personnel. The administration diverted $8 billion from military research and development to pay troops and deployed other workarounds to fund selected programs. Lawyers and policy experts say spending money in ways Congress did not authorize is likely illegal. The Office of Management and Budget cited historical emergency precedents to justify the moves. The administration used statutory transfer authority for some food aid, but contingency funds cannot cover food stamps.

Read at Axios