Berlin has offered to front the paychecks of US military employees stationed in Germany as Washington’s government shutdown drags on, according to the German Ministry of Finance.
The German government stepped in to “initiate an unscheduled expenditure to ensure that October salaries are paid on time” to civilian workers on US bases in the country, a ministry spokeswoman told the AFP.
It comes as Senate Democrats have blocked Republicans a whopping 11 attempts to reopen the government this month alone.
There are roughly 11,000 civilian staff based in Germany who support roughly 35,000 US troops in the country, according to latest totals.
The temporary financial lifeline would cover local US civilian employees working on American bases in Germany, including those at the sprawling Ramstein Air Base and in Stuttgart, where the Department of War’s European Command is headquartered.
While the Pentagon did not confirm the arrangement was accepted, a DOW official told The Post that “we value the important contributions of our local national employees around the world.”
“Arrangements for pay to local national employees vary country-to-country based on specific agreements the US has with each host nation,” a DOW official said.
If agreed to, Germany anticipates that the US would reimburse Berlin for the payments once the shutdown lifts.
Military and political analysts weighed in on the news, criticizing lawmakers for continuing the shutdown — now the second-longest in history — while military employees and other federal workers are left without paychecks.
“Shame on us,” said the Atlantic Council’s Alex Plitsas in a brief post to X on the topic Wednesday.
If the shutdown drags into November, even Berlin’s stopgap measure may not be enough to keep things running smoothly — leaving thousands of American families overseas caught in the crossfire of Capitol Hill’s budget brawl.
White House officials did not immediately comment on Berlin’s offer.
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