Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) ‘s freefall within the Democratic Party has gotten so bad that he’s not desperately considering a move to join his rival Republicans in an effort to save his career on Capitol Hill.
The upper chamber is set to vote on Sen. John Kennedy’s, R-La., resolution that would prevent senators from getting a paycheck during a government shutdown.
It’s a tool and strategy that Republicans hope will give them leverage in preventing Democrats from again shuttering the government in the fall — a move that Schumer led.
However, Schumer, who has led Democrats through two shutdowns in the last year, plans to support the Republican-led measure.
“I’m going to vote for it,” Schumer said.
“And I think it has a lot of support.”
Kennedy’s resolution would direct the Secretary of the Senate to withhold lawmakers’ pay until a shutdown is resolved.
A rank-and-file senator earns $174,000 per year, while a leader of either party can earn over $193,000 per year.
Kennedy’s resolution would only pertain to the Senate, according to reports.
However, it wouldn’t take effect until after the November midterm elections, and some Republicans fear that Schumer and Democrats will again shut the government down before voters hit the polls.
Ultimately, the deal could lessen the desire of lawmakers to let the government go into yet another shutdown in the next few months as Congress is still reeling from the growing frequency of closures and the messes that they leave behind.
“And if this — passing this and applying it to senators, maybe it will provide an additional incentive to prevent Senate Democrats in the future from shutting the government down again,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said.
During last year’s government shutdown, Kennedy floated the idea of withholding pay for lawmakers to avoid any future shutdowns.
“I don’t see missing paychecks or empty dinner plates as leverage or bargaining chips,” Kennedy said in a statement to Fox News at the time
“My bills ensure Congress feels the same pain as the folks we’re failing to pay — our troops, air traffic controllers, and federal workers. If we can’t do our jobs and fund the government, we don’t deserve a paycheck — plain and simple.”
One of the Kennedy-sponsored bills, the “No Shutdown Paychecks to Politicians Act,” would see lawmakers go without pay for every day that a shutdown is underway.
That number can fluctuate depending on whether a lawmaker is in a leadership position.
The latest partial shutdown lasted 76 days, the longest in U.S. history.
It was spurred by Democrats’ demands for stringent reforms to immigration operations in the country.
Last year, Democrats refused to fund the government for 43 days in pursuit of an extension to now-expired Obamacare tax credits.