Senators approve withholding their own pay during shutdowns
AP News • • general
Key Points:
- The Senate unanimously passed a resolution to withhold senators' pay during government shutdowns, aiming to make shutdowns financially painful for lawmakers after recent record-length closures.
- The measure, effective the day after the Nov. 3 general election, mandates that senators' pay be withheld by the Senate secretary during shutdowns and released once funding is restored; it does not apply to the House of Representatives.
- The resolution responds to two recent shutdowns—the 76-day partial Department of Homeland Security closure and the 43-day full government shutdown—that caused significant financial hardship for federal workers.
- The Constitution requires lawmakers to be paid during shutdowns, but some senators, including John Kennedy and Lindsey Graham, have advocated for measures to withhold pay to encourage lawmakers to avoid shutdowns.
- Senator Kennedy emphasized the need for "shared sacrifice" and cited tensions between the Senate and House as reasons for not extending the resolution to the House.