Senators voted Thursday to withhold their paychecks during future government shutdowns, following a record spate of funding lapses in recent months.
The Senate adopted the measure by voice vote, slating the change set to kick in after the November elections. Under the new rule, senators will receive back pay after a government shutdown ends.
“This is about shared sacrifice,” the legislation’s sponsor, Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), said on the Senate floor this week. “This is about putting our money where our mouth is.”
The move follows the record 43-day funding lapse last fall that affected all federal agencies. Congress also prompted a brief partial government shutdown beginning in late January and allowed funding to lapse for the Department of Homeland Security for another 76 days this year.
Kennedy predicts another funding lapse when federal cash expires at the beginning of October. “I’m very concerned that my Senate colleagues on the Democratic side are going to try to shut down the government yet again right before the election, to try to create chaos to affect the midterm elections,” he said.
