Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., is set to file two bills that would block members of Congress from being paid — or even collecting back pay — when the government is closed.
Kennedy introduced the bills in response to lawmakers being paid while the federal workforce goes unpaid and military members are only partially paid.
“What’s good for the goose is good for the gander,” Kennedy said in a Senate floor speech on Wednesday.
Kennedy’s No Shutdown Paychecks to Politicians Act would ensure that lawmakers go unpaid during a shutdown and are barred from collecting retroactive compensation once the government reopens.
His second bill, the Withhold Member Pay During Shutdowns Act, would require payroll administrators in the House and Senate to place lawmakers’ paychecks in escrow accounts during any lapse in federal funding.
The money would be released at the start of the next Congress — long after the shutdown has been resolved.
In his speech Wednesday, Kennedy asserted that federal workers have had to borrow $365 million during the 36-day shutdown.
“There is precedent for this. Some may say it violates the 27th Amendment. I don’t think it does. That’s why I’m offering two different flavors of bills.
“In 2013, President Obama did the same thing I’m doing now. … Guess what?
“Members of Congress had an epiphany, and they found religion … and they opened up government.”
The legislation comes as lawmakers remain deadlocked on the shutdown.
Senate Democrats have voted 15 times against the continuing resolution, citing a range of healthcare disputes — most notably their demand to make Affordable Care Act subsidies permanent before agreeing to fund the government and reopen federal operations.
The subsidies are set to expire Dec. 31.
In the House, Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wis., chair of the House Administration Committee, introduced companion legislation to Kennedy’s Withhold Member Pay During Shutdowns Act.
“There is no reason our government should be shut down,” Steil said. “If service members, law enforcement officers, and other essential employees are working without pay during the Schumer shutdown, members of Congress shouldn’t be paid either.”
Kennedy’s proposals reflect a growing sentiment among fiscal conservatives that Washington lawmakers should share the financial pain of their own dysfunction.
“Washington politicians shouldn’t get paid for failing to do their jobs,” Kennedy said in a statement. “Maybe if Congress had a little more skin in the game, we’d stop seeing these ridiculous shutdowns.”
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