US soldiers given food bank advice and could go without pay amid government shutdown

US soldiers in Germany may not receive their November pay and have been given food bank advice as a government shutdown entered a record 37th day.

Around 37,000 US soldiers stationed in the country face uncertainty over November salary payments.

The Pentagon has warned US troops may not receive mid-month wages despite last-minute funding for October.

US treasury secretary Scott Bessent told CBS News: "I think we'll be able to pay them beginning in November, but by 15 November our troops and service members who are willing to risk their lives aren't going to be able to get paid."

The US army also published guidance on its website directing soldiers in Germany to emergency social benefits, loans, and food sharing organisations including Tafel Deutschland - the umbrella organisation of more than 970 food banks in the country - as well as the app Too Good To Go.

Some of the information was later removed from the web page of the garrison in Bavaria, but some of the listings for services for those affected by the shutdown remained on a separate document.

Read more: What impact is the shutdown having?

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Cuts to flights

The US federal government shutdown became the longest in history on Wednesday - with Sean Duffy, the transportation secretary, announcing he was ordering a 10% cut in flights at 40 major US airports from Friday.

Tens of thousands of flights have been delayed because of widespread air traffic control shortages, with the shutdown forcing 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 Transportation Security Administration agents to work without pay.

Airlines have said at least 3.2 million travellers have already been impacted by air traffic control shortages.

"Our job is to make sure we make the hard decisions to continue to keep the airspace safe," said Mr Duffy.

"When we see pressures building in these 40 markets, we just can't ignore it," said Bryan Bedford, head of the Federal Aviation Administration.

"We can take action today to prevent things from deteriorating so the system is extremely safe today, will be extremely safe tomorrow."

The government did not name the 40 sites affected, but the cuts are expected to hit the busiest airports, including those serving New York City, Washington DC, Chicago, Atlanta, Los Angeles and Dallas.

This would reduce as many as 1,800 flights and more than 268,000 airline seats, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.

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Shutdown longest in history

The shutdown, which started on 1 October, has been triggered by politicians failing to pass new funding bills as a stand-off between the Democrats and Republicans over healthcare spending continues.

It has now eclipsed the 35-day federal closure in late 2018 and early 2019 during Donald Trump's first term - disrupting the lives of millions of Americans as all non-essential parts of government are frozen.

Republicans hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate. But 60 votes are needed to pass any funding bill.

The Trump administration has sought to ramp up the pressure on Democrats to end the shutdown and has increasingly raised the spectre of dramatic aviation disruptions to force them to vote to reopen the government.

However, Democrats contend Republicans are to blame for refusing to negotiate over key health care subsidies.

(c) Sky News 2025: US soldiers given food bank advice and could go without pay amid government shutdown