Some House and Senate lawmakers are requesting that their paychecks be withheld as millions of federal workers prepare to go without pay.

Millions of federal workers won’t get paid during a government shutdown. But the people who could prevent or end a shutdown — members of Congress — will still receive a paycheck.

That’s because their pay is protected under Article I, Section 6 of the Constitution, which states: “The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States.”

The Constitution “says members will be paid,” Rep. Joe Morelle of New York, the top Democrat on the House Administration Committee, explained to reporters Tuesday.

  • kennedy@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    491·
    16 hours ago

    Some lawmakers said they can’t afford missing a pay period.

    “I’m not wealthy, and I have three kids. I would basically be missing, you know, mortgage payments, rent payments, child support,” Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., told NBC News. “So it’s not feasible, not gonna happen.”

    oh so just like the thousand of workers that are being affected right now…

    • callouscomic@lemmy.zip
      7·
      10 hours ago

      Millions. Not thousands. Millions of civil servants who work tirelessly and often thanklessly to make everyday life better for us all.

    • sadfitzy@ttrpg.network
      9·
      11 hours ago

      Keep in mind, she’s saying that while living at a higher quality of life than most of you.

      It’s not an on/off switch, it’s a gradient where people try to live as lavishly as possible for as little effort as possible.

      • kennedy@lemmy.dbzer0.com
        11·
        8 hours ago

        they’re both bickering and finger pointing at each other when they both got us into this mess in the first place and all of them refuse to cut spending. I hate that being a politician nowadays is essentially saying one liners to farm clips for their social media. In reality they’ll just print more money instead of actually budgeting which means raising inflation even more making our lives even worse. I hate the dems and the GOP so much theyre an elite class getting rich while the rest of us get poorer. Both need to go.