In a rare display of unanimity, the U.S. Senate has approved a measure to withhold lawmakers own paychecks whenever they allow the federal government to shut down.
According to Gateway Pundit, the resolution was adopted by voice vote and authored by Republican Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana, who has pushed for Congress to share in the consequences of its own dysfunction. My resolution to stop senators pay during government shutdowns cleared a key procedural vote today, moving it one step closer to final passage, Kennedy announced on Wednesday, underscoring his view that lawmakers should not be insulated from the fallout of budget brinkmanship.
Kennedy framed the measure as a matter of basic fairness and accountability to taxpayers who routinely bear the brunt of Washingtons failures. Fair-minded Americans know senators should feel the pain of a shutdown with the American people, he said, arguing that elected officials should not be rewarded while federal workers and citizens face uncertainty.
Under the resolution, senators salaries will be suspended during any partial or full government shutdown, a move Kennedy described as a modest but necessary step toward restoring trust. Its called shared sacrifice, he said, emphasizing that the political class should not be exempt from the hardships their decisions impose on ordinary Americans.
The mechanics of the plan are straightforward: during a shutdown, senators pay will be placed into an escrow account and released only after the government is fully reopened. While lawmakers will ultimately receive their salaries, they will be denied access to that money for the duration of the funding lapse, creating at least some financial pressure on those who might otherwise treat shutdowns as a political game.
Kennedy also ensured the rule would not be weaponized for immediate political gain, specifying that it will not take effect until the day after the November midterm elections. As reported by The Hill, the resolution will go into effect after the November midterm election so it could apply to a potential end-of-year government shutdown, but not if one occurs ahead of the Sept. 30 end of the fiscal year.
The measure directs the secretary of the Senate to withhold all salary payments to senators if a government shutdown occurs, with the funds held in escrow rather than permanently forfeited. A senator would not lose his or salary as the money would be put in an escrow account, The Hill noted, but the money would not be available to lawmakers while the government is shut down.
Importantly, the resolution defines a shutdown broadly as any lapse in funding for one or more federal agencies or departments, meaning even a partial shutdown would trigger the pay freeze. That definition ensures that episodes like the 76-day standoff over the Department of Homeland Security earlier this year would leave senators not getting paid for weeks on end, potentially discouraging the kind of prolonged, politically motivated standoffs that have become routine in Washington.
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