Overview
- The Defense Department said it accepted the money under its general gift acceptance authority on Oct. 23, with the donor directing it to offset service members’ salaries and benefits.
- Officials have not identified the donor or stated whether the person is a U.S. or foreign national, even as Pentagon rules require ethics vetting for gifts over $10,000 and added review for foreign sources.
- Budget and legal experts, along with appropriators such as Sen. Dick Durbin, are questioning whether private funds can lawfully be applied to payroll during a lapse in appropriations under the Antideficiency Act.
- The $130 million covers only a sliver of payroll needs, with a typical half‑month military pay costing about $6.5 billion, a scale that analysts say makes the gift roughly one‑third of one day’s pay.
- Earlier this month the administration reprogrammed billions in unobligated defense research funds to meet mid‑October pay, and it remains unclear how the new donation will be processed or whether additional shifts will cover the late‑October paycheck.