Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson depart a news conference on Friday, October 10, 2025. J. Scott Applewhite/AP

Top Republicans in Congress will take a massive gamble on shutdown politics in the coming days: GOP leaders will not step in to prevent missed paychecks to the military.

It’s the most dramatic step yet by Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Speaker Mike Johnson to attempt to force Democrats to end the government shutdown, even as they realize their party will, too, face political pain for the move. And it comes at a high-stakes moment for both parties: This will be the first time in recent history that active-duty military service members will miss a paycheck on a large scale during a shutdown.

But behind the scenes, Thune and Johnson h

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