The German government has announced plans to cover the salaries of around 11,000 local employees working at US military bases across Germany, after their pay was threatened by the ongoing US government shutdown in Washington.
In a statement on Wednesday, a spokeswoman for the Federal Ministry of Finance said Berlin would authorise an emergency expenditure to ensure that October salaries are paid on time, preventing any financial hardship for affected workers.
“The federal government will initiate an unscheduled expenditure to ensure that October salaries are paid on time,” the ministry spokeswoman confirmed.
The Verdi trade union had earlier raised concerns that, unlike in previous shutdowns when pay continued uninterrupted, the current Trump administration appeared poised to suspend payments — a move the union said would violate German labour laws.
To avert a crisis, the federal government in Berlin and the state government of Rhineland-Palatinate — where several major US military installations are located — agreed to temporarily fund the payroll, pending reimbursement from Washington once the US government resumes payments.
The finance ministry said it remains unclear whether US funds might still be processed despite the shutdown, but Berlin’s intervention would serve as a stopgap measure to protect workers’ livelihoods.
Officials described the move as a gesture of solidarity with the US armed forces stationed in Germany and their civilian staff, underscoring the close partnership between both nations.
“This contribution is a sign of solidarity with the US armed forces stationed in Germany and their civilian employees,” the ministry spokeswoman said.
The United States currently maintains tens of thousands of military personnel in Germany — one of its largest overseas deployments — with many local staff employed in administrative, technical, and support roles across bases in Ramstein, Stuttgart, and Wiesbaden.
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