Reps. Tom Kean, Jr. (R-Westfield), Andy Kim (D-Moorestown), Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair), and Josh Gottheimer (D-Wyckoff) not take their congressional salaries if the federal government shuts down at midnight.
“I do not support a shutdown of the federal government. I have shared my concerns with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle about the irresponsibility of shutting down the government,” said Kean. “In the event of a government shutdown, I am not going to take a salary until that lapse of appropriations ends,”
In 2018 and 2019, during a 35-day government shutdown during the presidency of Donald Trump, Kim and Sherrill did not accept their congressional salaries between their swearing-in on January 3, 2019, and the end of the shutdown on January 25.
“No budget, no pay,” Sherrill said today. “Members of Congress simply should not be paid when federal workers, service members, and small businesses suffer the consequences.”
With the U.S. government on the brink of a shutdown, congressional leaders are racing to find a compromise. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said he’ll hold a vote today on a 45-day short-term spending bill that includes natural disaster relief but not funding to aid Ukraine.
Years ago, Congress exempted itself from shutdowns, allowing them to continue to draw their own salaries even if other federal employees do not.
Kim called the special treatment “absurd.”
If Republicans force a shutdown, I’m not going to take my salary,” Kim stated. “And we need legislation to make members the first to lose their salaries.”
Gottheimer has already sent a letter requesting that he not receive a paycheck during the shutdown.
Members of Congress are paid $174,000 annually, which works out to $476.71-per-day
This story was updated at 1:30 PM and 1:46 PM.
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