Mellon, who lives primarily in Wyoming, keeps a low profile despite his prolific political spending. He is also a significant supporter of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr, who also ran for president last year. Mellon donated millions to Kennedy’s presidential campaign and has also given money to his anti-vaccine group, Children’s Health Defence.
The Pentagon said it accepted the donation under the “general gift acceptance authority”.
“The donation was made on the condition that it be used to offset the cost of service members’ salaries and benefits,” Pentagon chief spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement.
The donation appears to be a potential violation of the Antideficiency Act, which prohibits federal agencies from spending money in excess of congressional appropriations or from accepting voluntary services.
More than three weeks into the government shutdown, the Trump administration has taken a series of unorthodox steps to redirect funds to pay certain government workers.
Trump has vowed to pay military members, immigration agents and law enforcement officials even though politicians have not approved the money for their wages. Workers in those categories are considered essential and must continue working during the shutdown, although they are entitled to back pay under a 2019 law.
As part of that promise, Trump signed an executive order this month directing the Pentagon to use unspent research and development funds to cover troops’ salaries. But congressional leaders have said moving funds around is only a temporary fix.
Thousands of federal workers missed their first pay cheques this past week. About 670,000 workers have been furloughed, according to a tally by the Bipartisan Policy Centre, a Washington-based think tank. An additional 730,000 or so are working without pay.
US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr and President Donald Trump in the White House earlier this month.Credit: Bloomberg
In an autobiography that he self-published in 2015, Mellon describes himself as a former liberal who moved to Wyoming from Connecticut for lower taxes and to have fewer neighbours.
His book also contains several incendiary passages about race. He wrote that black people were “even more belligerent” after social programs were expanded in the 1960s and 1970s, and that social safety net programs amounted to “slavery redux”.
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Mellon wrote another book in the northern summer of 2024 about his work turning around Pan Am Systems, a collection of companies that includes rail, aviation and marketing firms. The book was put out by Skyhorse Publishing, which also published a recent memoir by first lady Melania Trump. Skyhorse Publishing president Tony Lyons cofounded a super PAC, American Values 2024, that backed Kennedy’s presidential bid.
In 2020, during a rare and brief interview with The New York Times, Mellon declined to answer questions about his political giving.
“I’ll contribute to him or Biden or whoever I want to,” he said, referring to Trump and his rival, Joe Biden. “I don’t have to say why.”
