Exterior view of the U.S. Capitol. (Photo by Eric Lee/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON - Senators voted unanimously on Thursday to pass a resolution suspending their own pay during government shutdowns, aiming to impose financial consequences on lawmakers following a series of unprecedented stalemates over the past year.
The bipartisan support for the measure comes at a time when federal closures have become longer and more frequent, frustrating lawmakers who say there should be punishment when Congress fails at its most basic legislative duty.
Dig deeper:
Under the resolution, senators’ pay would be withheld by the secretary of the Senate whenever a government shutdown affects one or more agencies, then released once funding is restored. It will take effect the day after the Nov. 3 general election.
This browser does not support the Video element.
Trump signs bill ending DHS shutdown: What comes next?
President Donald Trump swiftly signed a bipartisan legislation Thursday to fund much of the Department of Homeland Security, but not its immigration enforcement operations, shortly after the package won final approval in the House, ending the longest agency shutdown in history. So, what comes next? Grant Reeher with Syracuse Univ. joins LiveNOW from FOX.
What they're saying:
"Shutting down government should not be our default solution to our refusal to work out our issues and our differences," said Sen. John Kennedy, the bill’s sponsor, in a floor speech Wednesday.
RELATED: Trump in China: President Xi warns Taiwan is key to US-China relations
"This is about putting our money where our mouth is," said Kennedy, R-La.
Big picture view:
Two shutdowns in the past year created significant financial hardship for tens of thousands of federal workers, particularly at the Department of Homeland Security. The department reopened last month after a 76-day partial shutdown, the longest agency funding lapse in history.
The DHS shutdown came just a few months after a 43-day lapse of the entire federal government, which was the longest such closure on record.
The Constitution stipulates that lawmakers must be paid so they have received salaries during shutdowns even as federal workers went without paychecks. When the full government shutdown began in October amid a dispute over health care subsidies, Sen. Lindsey Graham proposed a constitutional amendment to require members to forfeit their paychecks when the government is closed.
RELATED: US Border Patrol chief resigns 'effective immediately,' report says
"If members of Congress had to forfeit their pay during government shutdowns, there would be fewer shutdowns and they would end quicker," Graham, R-S.C., said at the time.
Graham said his legislation was the most "constitutionally sound" way to deal with the problem, but the process would have been much more laborious as three-fourths of states must ratify an amendment.
Lawmakers in previous shutdowns have often pledged to forgo their paychecks while federal workers went unpaid.
Kennedy told reporters Wednesday that he pushed his measure to ensure there is "shared sacrifice" during shutdowns. He added that it does not go as far as he would like, but that it’s a start.
Asked why it does not extend to the other chamber of Congress, Kennedy said "the House’s business is the House’s business" while also touching on the tensions between the Senate and House.
"There’s a very strong undercurrent of animosity among some of my friends in the House," Kennedy said.
"It’s quickly becoming like two kids fighting in the back of a minivan," he said.
The Source: The Associated Press contributed to this report. The information in this story is drawn from Senate proceedings, including the text of the resolution and its approval on the chamber floor, as well as public statements and remarks from lawmakers such as Sen. John Kennedy and Sen. Lindsey Graham. This story was reported from Los Angeles.