Because of the GOP-Teaparty House members’ bamboozlment bill last Friday, the House and the Senate and the President and their staffs will work and will receive a paycheck during a government shutdown. They won’t get to visit places like the House Gift Shop, since it would be closed, but they’ll be able to carry on as if nothing is happening: traveling, purchasing, etc. Barbara Boxer and the House Dems argued last Friday to pass a bill restricting pay to Congress in a shutdown, but the Republicans wouldn’t even consider it. From the Federal TImes:
If there is a government shutdown, senators and members of Congress will have a far different experience than most federal employees.
Not only will senators and congressman continue to be paid in the event of a shutdown, but they have complete discretion to keep their entire staffs working throughout the shutdown.
According to shutdown guidance for the legislative branch issued Tuesday by the House Administration Committee, congressmen and senators can keep on any staff they believe assist them in fulfilling their constitutional duties or who protect life or safeguard property.
[...] Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif.; Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va.; and Heath Shuler, D-N.C., all introduced legislation that would halt congressional pay in the event of a shutdown.
Boxer’s bill was passed by the Senate but not the House. The other bills failed to advance past the committee level. Critics of those measures point out that they could run afoul of the 27th Amendment that prohibits changes in congressional pay during the same session.
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