Senator John Kennedy (R-La.) said on Mar. 26 that members of the Senate should not receive their paychecks while employees at the Department of Homeland Security remain unpaid due to a government shutdown.
The issue is significant because more than 260,000 people working at the Department of Homeland Security have been without pay for over a month, according to Kennedy. The senator argued that it is unfair for lawmakers to continue collecting salaries while federal workers go unpaid.
“Here’s a cold dish of truth, folks: We’ve got 260,000 people who work at the Department of Homeland Security, and they have gone without pay for more than a month because my Democratic colleagues refuse to work with us to reopen the department. It’s unconscionable. It’s inexcusable,” Kennedy said. He added, “Meanwhile, members of Congress have been receiving their pay as normal. Now, when fair-minded Americans hear that members of Congress haven’t missed a paycheck while more than a quarter of a million DHS employees go without, it triggers their gag reflexes.”
Kennedy explained that he has drafted a resolution preventing senators from collecting their pay during government shutdowns until those shutdowns end. “My resolution would require the Secretary of the Senate to place each member’s paycheck in a vault until the government reopens,” he said.
According to Kennedy, his resolution passed through the Senate Rules Committee with bipartisan support but was later blocked by Democrats after another partial government closure began.
Kennedy also serves on several key Senate committees including appropriations, banking, budget and judiciary according to his official website. He holds top Republican positions on subcommittees related to energy and water development and economic policy according to his official website. In addition to his legislative duties, Kennedy contributes as an adjunct professor and substitute teacher according to his official website, and has authored books and articles on Constitutional law and state legislation according to his official website.
He concluded by saying: “Senators shouldn’t be able to use a federal employee’s paycheck as a political pawn without sacrificing their own paychecks… If the employees of the Department of Homeland Security aren’t being paid, senators shouldn’t be paid either.”
