Senator John Kennedy (R-La.) addressed the U.S. Senate to announce his intention to introduce two bills aimed at withholding congressional pay during government shutdowns. The announcement comes as the current shutdown has reached its 36th day.
Kennedy explained, “Tomorrow, I will be bringing two bills before the Senate. They both have to do with the shutdown and congressional pay.” He outlined the first bill, called the No Shutdown Paychecks [to Politicians] Act, which would prevent members of Congress from being paid during a government shutdown, with no reimbursement after the fact. The second bill, titled Withhold Member Pay During Shutdowns Act, would escrow congressional salaries during a shutdown and release them only once the government reopens in order to address potential concerns related to the 27th Amendment.
He noted that federal employees are not receiving their pay during this period. According to Kennedy, “I got some numbers in this morning that federal workers have had to borrow $365 million so far during this 36-day shutdown in order to just pay their rent. Our military is only being paid partially. Our air traffic controllers are not being paid. People who receive SNAP payments are only being partially paid.”
Kennedy referenced past actions taken during previous shutdowns: “There’s precedent for this, Mr. President. Some may say, ‘Well, this violates the 27th Amendment.’ I don’t think it does…in 2013, President Obama did the same thing that I’m doing now…President Obama supported legislation that said, ‘If you don’t open the government by this certain date, then you’re going to lose your paychecks.’”
The senator stated his motivation for introducing these measures: “I’m not trying to grandstand…So, I’ll offer these bills tomorrow, and people can vote yea, or they can vote nay, but what’s good for the goose is good for the gander.”
The full text of both proposed bills is available online along with further coverage from Fox News Digital.
