Bill would prohibit lawmakers, president from being paid if government shuts down

Two Democratic Senators on Thursday introduced a bill that would prohibit members of Congress and the president from being paid during a government shutdown or when the federal government can't pay its bills because the debt limit has been reached. 

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, and Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), chairman of the Joint Economic Committee, announced legislation Thursday morning that would stop payments to Congress and the president while ensuring Social Security benefits continue, military troops are paid and other government services remain open for business. 

"If the government is forced to shut down, members of Congress and the president should be treated the same way as all other federal employees," Boxer said. "We should not be paid. And to take it one step further, we should not be paid retroactively once the government reopens." 

Boxer said she didn't know how much the bill would save and that amount would depend on the length of a shutdown. 

Lawmakers and the president are paid under a mandatory spending law rather than through the appropriations process, meaning they still get paid when the government shuts down. 

"So as far as we can tell, we're the only category of federal employees that have this protection," Boxer told reporters. 

During the government shutdown in 1995, Boxer pushed similar legislation through the Senate but "it mysteriously was dropped" from a spending bill for the District of Columbia during conference committee. 

This time around, Boxer said she intends to ask Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to bring the bill to the floor as a stand-alone measure "so that it goes over to the House without anything around it." 

"We are going to ask Sen. Reid to hotline this bill, to get it done," she said. "We might not have to even bring it up. We just want to get it through. And then we're going to put the spotlight on the House to take it up and pass it."

"I'd like to hear the argument against it," Casey added. 

Boxer called the threat of a government shutdown "real" as the divide widens between Democrats and Republicans on spending issues. 

House Republicans have proposed $61 billion in cuts to fiscal 2010 spending levels as part of the stopgap measure under consideration on the House floor that will keep the government running through March 4. 

That bill is expected to received a chilly reception from Senate Democrats who have said the cuts have been made with an axe rather than a scalpel. 

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said Thursday he won't pass even a short-term CR without any spending cuts. 

The House and Senate are expected to leave town Thursday for the weeklong Presidents Day recess, leaving them with about four days during the week of Feb. 28 to pass a bill that President Obama can sign, even if it's temporary. This is becoming an increasingly difficult task that will probably lead to some type of short-term solution while negotiations continue over cuts. 

Senate Appropriations Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) said talks are under way with House Appropriations leaders on a backup plan that would provide a reprieve from a government shutdown, but decisions aren't likely to be made until a bill reaches the Senate. 

"So a government shutdown is on the table," Boxer said. "It's been put on the table. Or put another way, it has not been taken off the table, which is what we want."

Late last week, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Democrats were raising the specter of a shutdown.

Senate Republicans are likely to call for Democrats to bring a House-passed CR to the floor, although it's unlikely to get enough support to pass in the short period of time remaining before the expiration of the current law that is keeping the government running.