Senators voted unanimously on Wednesday to advance a measure to suspend their pay during any future government shutdown, after two record funding lapses in the span of a year.
It easily cleared a procedural hurdle on Wednesday in a 99-0 vote — with one senator absent — and is expected to quickly be adopted.
The resolution, led by Sen. John Kennedy, applies only to the Senate, not the House. Because of constitutional requirements, it does not take effect until after the November midterm elections.
“It’s about shared sacrifice,” the Louisiana Republican said, noting federal employees do not get paid during a shutdown, so lawmakers should not, either.
Mr. Kennedy said members of Congress “ought to hide our heads in a bag” after the 43-day, government-wide shutdown last fall and the 76-day shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security that followed this year.
“It’s got to stop,” he said. “Shutting down government should not be a default solution to our refusal to work out our issues and our differences.”
It was Senate Democrats, through the power of the filibuster, who initiated the recent shutdowns in purported quests to extend Obamacare subsidies and crack down on President Trump’s deportation force. The shutdowns ended without either of those outcomes being achieved.
The resolution does not eliminate senators’ salaries during a shutdown. It would hold paychecks in escrow until the shutdown ends.
Mr. Kennedy said that was an “accommodation” made to win over hesitant colleagues, although he personally prefers senators to lose their pay altogether during a shutdown and to prevent them from leaving Washington until the government is reopened.
Some federal workers had to get second jobs during the shutdowns to make ends meet, and others defaulted on bills while awaiting their back pay. Senators, who earn $174,000 a year and are often independently wealthy, are less likely to experience such hardships.
Mr. Kennedy also would prefer for the resolution to take effect immediately, but said the 27th Amendment of the Constitution is clear that any effort from lawmakers to adjust their own salaries cannot take effect until after the next intervening election.
“I’m very concerned that my Senate colleagues on the Democratic side are going to try to shut down government yet again right before the elections to try to create chaos to affect the midterm elections,” Mr. Kennedy said.
“If I’m wrong in that prediction, I will come here and apologize to every senator by name,” he said.
