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This is officially the longest shutdown in United States history, and it doesn't show any signs of letting up. Now Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) appears to be trying to force a settlement by pushing legislation that would deny members of Congress pay during the shutdown.
While most federal employees—including law enforcement, the military, and even FAA employees like air traffic controllers—have not been paid, members of Congress are still receiving paychecks. Kennedy now looks to be moving to change that.
He described his legislation while speaking on the floor of the Senate, saying his bill "provides that as long as we're shut down, no member of Congress can be paid, and the money will not be reimbursed." He has also proposed a second bill that would allow members of Congress to receive back pay.
Political consultant Luke Macias praised the move as forcing the Democrats, who have now voted 14 times to keep the government closed, to put their money where their mouths are. He said, "As long as their bit of government is fine, they'll shut down the rest of government in order to win more congressional seats in the midterms."
Macias also pointed to this as a great way to prevent Democrats from using government shutdowns as a future go-to negotiation tactic. He said, "If Democrats lost their paychecks the day the government shut down, you would not be in this shutdown today. I think this is a structural reform that will make sure this never happens again."
He added that the GOP should absolutely bring this to the floor and force Democrats to vote up or down on it.