FBI agents will receive their salaries despite the government shutdown, Patel says
The Trump administration is looking at alternative ways to ensure federal law enforcement officers receive their salaries.
In addition, the Trump administration said it will continue to pay FBI agents despite the ongoing government shutdown that has frozen the paychecks of nearly all federal workers, as announced by the agency's director, Kash Patel.
“You have found a way for these individuals to receive their payments during the government shutdown,” Patel told President Trump during an unrelated Oval Office event. “On behalf of the FBI, we owe you a great debt.”
Patel did not specify the source of the funds that would be used to pay the agents.
The announcement follows recent steps by the administration to ensure that members of the military will receive their paychecks this week even though most federal workers go without pay until the government reopens.
The military was set to receive their pay on Wednesday after Trump issued a memo directing the Pentagon to use other unused funds. to make payroll. About $8 billion had been allocated from the previous fiscal year to cover mid-month payments, a Pentagon official previously said. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem also indicated that the Coast Guard, which she oversees, would be paid this week using funds from the One Big Beautiful Bill passed earlier this year. Analysts said the decision to pay FBI agents and service members during a government shutdown marks a significant change from previous precedents, where federal employees typically went unpaid until Congress passed funding legislation.
However, the current government shutdown is beginning to hamper sensitive FBI investigations because agents are unable to pay informants, according to news reports.
Under the Justice Department's shutdown plans, no FBI agents were furloughed,and only about 10 percent of the department's overall employees were expected to be sent home.

