Updated

The head of the charity that agreed to pay death benefits to the families of fallen soldiers said on “The Kelly File” Wednesday, “we stepped in because these families had suffered enough.”

Fisher House CEO Ken Fisher told Megyn Kelly his organization received a call Tuesday from Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. “asking will we help and of course there was no other answer.”

Fisher's foundation builds home for military families to live in while their loved ones are being treated in nearby medical facilities. He said the government’s inability to pay death benefits and travel expenses due to the partial government shutdown was “a national disgrace,  there’s no other way to put it…these are America’s families.

When a military member dies, he said, “It’s up to us to take care of their loved ones.”