The Senate will soon decide whether lawmakers should be paid during another government shutdown as the specter of more closures looms large.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., teed up a vote on a measure that would prevent senators from being paid during a government shutdown, a political option of last resort that has now become commonplace in the midst of President Donald Trump’s second term.
The resolution from Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., is straightforward: if there is another shutdown, he and his colleagues won’t get paid. It’s one of several resolutions and bills tossed around by lawmakers to find a way to stop shutdowns, or at least find a leverage point against them.
KENNEDY PUSHES PLAN TO HALT CONGRESS PAY DURING GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN
Thune quietly set up the resolution for a vote when the Senate returned on Monday as lawmakers gear up to fund immigration operations for the next three and a half years — a route they’re having to take as a result of the most recent shutdown.
When asked how he felt about his measure getting a shot, Kennedy said he pushed Thune to do it.
“He did it, and I think he’s a fine American,” Kennedy said.
Shutdowns have become a common tool over the last year and a half that Democrats have turned to as a negotiating counterpoint. In Trump’s second term alone, Congress has been on the precipice of a closure four times.
REPUBLICANS EYE ENDING GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWNS FOREVER OVER FEARS DEMS WILL DO IT AGAIN
And those shutdown run-ins have yielded the longest full shutdown in history, and the longest partial closure ever.
That reality, where Democrats are using a shutdown like a political cudgel in a way lawmakers have never seen, has some Republicans worried that they’ll do it again before the midterm elections in November.
Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., accused Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Democrats of being “legislative terrorists” who view political opportunity in forcing another closure.
DEMS’ DHS SHUTDOWN THREAT WOULD HIT FEMA, TSA WHILE IMMIGRATION FUNDING REMAINS INTACT
It could be over Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) again, Schmitt said, or something else entirely.
“It’ll be something else, and then we’ll just shut the whole thing down, and we should not, you know, let them do that,” Schmitt said. “So I think we ought to have some plans in place to account for that, to make it painful for them if they want to do that, because the American people suffer on it.”
Kennedy isn’t the only lawmaker trying to take the option off the table. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., has been pushing his Shutdown Fairness Act, which would require that working federal workers are paid during a shutdown.
And Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., has his own legislation, the Prevent Government Shutdowns Act, which would automatically fund the government for two-week stretches until Congress landed on a compromise funding deal.
“We need to pass it so we never have a moment like this again,” Lankford told Fox News Digital. “We will have disagreements. It’s America, but we should not have federal workers, programs that stop because we’re having a disagreement. Let’s have the fight. But let’s keep going.”
Senate weighs new, painful leverage tactic as fears of another government shutdown grow 2026 IUSTITIA.BG – Investigations 2009-2025 2026-05-12 14:49:34 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law
