As the next government shutdown approached, Rep.- elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) took to Twitter and called for her fellow members of Congress to share in the fallout, saying that their congressional salaries should be furloughed.
“It’s completely unacceptable that members of Congress can force a government shutdown on partisan lines & then have Congressional salaries exempt from that decision,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted.
“Have some integrity,” she added.
Next time we have a gov shutdown, Congressional salaries should be furloughed as well.
It’s completely unacceptable that members of Congress can force a government shutdown on partisan lines & then have Congressional salaries exempt from that decision.
Have some integrity. https://t.co/BgueNNjf0f
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) December 22, 2018
As CNN reported this afternoon, the Senate adjourned for the day on Saturday without agreeing on a spending deal that would end a partial government shutdown. As a result, federal closures will likely last through Christmas.
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) shares Ocasio-Cortez’s sentiment, and has for the second time this year announced that any money she makes from her salary during the government shutdown will be donated to charity.
“I cannot take a salary during a government shutdown knowing that so many federal workers in Nevada and across the country will go without pay,” Cortez Masto tweeted just after the shutdown began at midnight.
Members of both the House and the Senate receive salaries of $174,000 a year. A government shutdown will only affect agencies and employees that are funded through annual appropriations.
If the shutdown extends past January 5, federal workers will miss their next paycheck.
Featured image via screen grab/YouTube
