The Senate unanimously approved a resolution Thursday to withhold senators’ pay during future federal government shutdowns. The new rule could — just maybe — provide lawmakers with added incentive to avoid funding lapses like the one that shut down federal agencies for a record 43 days last fall or the one that hit the Department of Homeland Security for an even longer record 76 days this year.
The resolution, sponsored by Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana, passed by voice vote. Senators voted 99-0 to advance it earlier in the week.
The measure instructs the Secretary of the Senate to hold any pay for senators when one or more federal agencies are shut down. The senators would get their back pay “as soon as practicable” after the shutdown ends.
“This is about shared sacrifice,” Kennedy said in a statement. “If senators are going to vote to shut down the government and prevent millions of federal workers from getting paid, they ought to have the same skin in the game. My resolution will ensure that senators aren’t the only people receiving their paychecks during a government shutdown.”
The new rule will take effect after November’s midterm elections, meaning that the senators would still get paid if the government shuts down at the start of the new fiscal year in October. The 27th Amendment to the Constitution say that any change to the compensation of senators or representatives can take effect only after the next House elections. The resolution does not apply to the House.