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Last week, the Trump administration announced that it would pay 1.3 million active-duty troops and tens of thousands of National Guard members who would otherwise go without pay during the government shutdown. Although Congress has not appropriated these funds, the White House says it can cover military salaries by redirecting billions of dollars that were allocated for other purposes. The decision to reprogram those funds without congressional approval has raised alarms, even among Republican lawmakers , that the administration has exploited this standoff to further usurp congressional power of the purse.

On this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode of Amicus , co

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