While the US government's activities were temporarily suspended, the country's defense system unexpectedly received financial support through an anonymous source. According to Politico, the Pentagon confirmed receiving $130 million in donations.
Defense Ministry spokesman Sean Parnell stated that the funds were provided by a private individual, not the state. According to him, the money will mainly be used to pay the salaries of military personnel. However, the identity of the donor was not disclosed - even the question of whether he is a US citizen was not answered.
According to current laws, donations of more than $10,000 in favor of military personnel or their families must be reviewed by an ethics commission. This determines the guarantee that "the donor's interests do not affect state decisions."
US President Donald Trump stated in his speech that he knew about this donation, but did not disclose the donor's name. He noted that the money was given "with a sense of friendship and sympathy." At the same time, Trump once again blamed the Democratic Party for the suspension of government work.
According to reports, the allocated funds do not fully cover the salaries of all military personnel. In the first half of October alone, the Pentagon spent approximately $6.5 billion on salaries. Next week, Congress is expected to consider new draft laws on this issue.
Starting October 1st, several government agencies suspended operations in the US due to the lack of a budget for the new fiscal year. This situation is called "shattdown" in the country. Disagreements in the government are mainly related to the issue of financing the Obamacare health insurance program for the poor. Democrats are defending this program, while Republicans are in favor of reducing it.
Due to the shutdown, a number of ministries were reduced. According to the Ministry of Justice, more than 4,200 civil servants were dismissed, including in the fields of finance, healthcare, and education. At the same time, Trump ordered the Secretary of Defense to ensure the salaries of the military, despite the suspension of government work.
The last time this happened was at the end of 2018. At that time, the 35-day budget barrier was recorded as the longest shutdown in US history. The reason for this was Trump's demand to allocate substantial funds for the construction of a wall on the border with Mexico.
In this case, the most interesting thing is that the Pentagon received anonymous donations. In the USA, such a large amount of private financial support is recorded in the government system for the first time, and this has raised not only political, but also legal questions.
According to experts, this situation could be a serious signal regarding the financial stability of the state. The tendency of private individuals to provide financial support to government systems is likely to become the basis for new political debates in the future.
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