Senate Advances Shutdown Pay Freeze for $174,000 Lawmakers on Unanimous Vote

3 articles · Updated · Fox News · May 13

A unanimous Senate vote moved Sen. John Kennedy’s resolution toward final passage, setting up a rule that would withhold senators’ pay during future government shutdowns until funding is restored.
Kennedy cast the measure as “shared sacrifice,” but said it cannot take effect until after the next election cycle, leaving Republicans worried it will not deter a pre-midterm shutdown.
John Thune said Democratic support likely reflected the political difficulty of opposing a pay freeze while federal workers go unpaid, even as he questioned whether the backing was substantive.
The proposal applies only to the Senate, where rank-and-file members earn $174,000 a year and party leaders more than $193,000.
The push follows a 43-day shutdown over Obamacare tax credits and a 76-day DHS shutdown, with other Senate bills also seeking to soften or prevent future funding lapses.

Can withholding lawmaker pay prevent the multi-billion dollar economic damage of government shutdowns?

Are automatic funding extensions a better fix for government shutdowns than penalizing individual lawmakers?