Maine Rep. Wants To Withhold Politician Pay In Gov’t Shutdown

Freshman Congressman Jared Golden thinks Congress and the President shouldn't be paid during a government shutdown, and he's introduced a bill with hopes to make it law.

Last Friday, the United States government was back in business after the more-than month long shutdown, where 800,000 federal workers went without pay. Not included in list were members of Congress and the president, and the Maine Democrat wants that to change. This week, Golden introduced a bipartisan bill that would withhold pay from members of Congress and the president during government shutdowns. Reps. Dan Crenshaw and Max Rose joined Golden to introduce the legislation.

In a press release, Rep. Golden said "This legislation will help prevent the American people from being political pawns for party leaders and help return sanity to the task of funding the government."

According to WMTW, The Solidarity in Salary Act of 2019 would place the pay of the president, vice president and members of Congress into escrow for each day of a shutdown. Once it reopens, the pay would be released, according to Golden.