Tariff revenue to be used to cover WIC payments and maybe military pay, Hawley says

(Missourinet) – The federal Women, Infant, and Children’s program – known as WIC – is receiving new funding as the government shutdown continues. The Trump administration has announced it will use revenues from tariffs to keep the federal nutrition program going. Various estimates had WIC running out of money within the next week or two before the extra funding was announced.

Missouri U.S. Senator Josh Hawley tells Missourinet that Trump is planning this week to use tariff funding to pay military members:

“If this shutdown continues, they’ll miss a paycheck, and the president said he’s going to try to use whatever funds he can find that have already been allocated to pay the military. And I salute him for doing that. But the truth is, this is ridiculous. This has gone on for what, now, 9 days? 10 days? That’s 10 days too long and it’s absurd. It should never have started in the first place.”

The latest U.S. Senate vote to try and reopen the federal government fell short by six votes. Two Democrats and one independent joined Republicans Thursday in voting “yes” on the stopgap spending bill, while Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky joined the Democratic majority in voting “no.”