Bessent Says US Prioritizing Payments, in Unusual Maneuver (1)

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent indicated his department is shuffling the flow of money through its system in order to allow for US military staff to get paid — a maneuver that his predecessor had suggested might not be possible.

“We’re having to prioritize payments,” Bessent said on Fox Business Monday. “We are having to hold back on some payments so that our brave men and women in the US military can get paid. So we are having to shuffle things around.”

The failure of Congress to pass appropriations bills for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1 has led to ...