Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey blocked legislation that would withhold lawmakers’ paychecks until the government shutdown ends.
Republican Florida Sen. Rick Scott asked for unanimous consent Thursday afternoon to pass his No Budget, No Pay Act on the Senate floor, prompting an objection from Markey. The debate over lawmakers’ pay comes as many federal employees, including congressional staffers, are reporting to work despite missing their paychecks during the 37-day shutdown.
“If he’s willing to defer his paycheck, why wouldn’t he allow my bill to pass that all of us should defer our paychecks until government gets open again,” Scott said during debate on the measure Thursday. “The right thing to do is open the government.”
Markey stated that he has asked for his government salary to be deferred until the government reopens. However, not every Democrat has been as forthcoming about their government salary during the funding lapse.
Democratic Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego told NBC at the beginning of the shutdown that he could not afford to forgo his government salary.
When asked by the Daily Caller News Foundation what he planned to do with his paycheck, Gallego grew irritated and replied, “Are you on this again?”
Lawmakers earn an annual base salary of $174,000 per year with those in leadership roles receiving higher pay. Congressional members are guaranteed their government salary due to Article I, Section 6 of the Constitution.
Markey also accused Republicans of “holding the health care of Americans hostage” and urged his counterparts to negotiate on Democrats’ health care demands to bring a resolution to the record-breaking shutdown.
Scott argued that Republicans will not consider Democrats’ demands until they vote to reopen the government. Markey has voted 14 times against a clean bipartisan stopgap bill to temporarily fund the government.
“If we want to fix health care, which we should do in a bipartisan manner, we should sit down … once we open the federal government,” Scott said.
“You don’t do it by shutting down government and making sure our military doesn’t get paid, our TSA [Transportation Security Administration] doesn’t get paid, or FAA [Federal Aviation Administration] doesn’t get paid, or Capitol Police doesn’t get paid, or all of our federal workers don’t get paid, and we prevent 42 million people from getting food stamp benefits,” Scott continued.
Senate Republicans have grown increasingly frustrated that Democrats appear content with prolonging the funding lapse despite the growing toll on their constituents.
“We did clean continuing resolutions to keep the government funded, and … they tried to hijack it, take it hostage,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune told the Daily Caller News Foundation in an interview on Thursday. “I think mainly to put a good face toward their left-wing base, who are demanding and insisting that they fight Trump at every turn, no matter the issue.”
Markey, 79, has served in Congress since 1976. He currently faces a competitive 2026 Democratic primary challenge from Massachusetts Rep. Seth Moulton, 46, who invoked the need for generational change in announcing his campaign.
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