Congressman Wants to Cut Lawmakers’ Pay in Event of Shutdown

U.S. Rep.-elect John James (R-Mich.) (R.) delivers remarks in the House Chamber during the third day of elections for Speaker of the House at the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington on Jan. 05, 2023. Win McNamee/Getty Images

Rep. John James (R-Mich.) is attempting to prevent members of Congress from receiving their paychecks if they do not perform the necessary work to maintain government operations.

Mr. James spoke to journalists on July 29 about his legislation that is planned to incentivize lawmakers to work toward reconciliation to stave off a looming government shutdown. The act, referred to by the lawmaker as the “Putting Your Money Where Your Mouth Is Act,” is also known as H.R. 4287 and was introduced on June 22 but has yet to be voted out of committee.

The House of Representatives will return on Sept. 12 after a six-week recess, giving them only a few weeks to adopt spending legislation for the next fiscal year, which begins on Oct. 1. A partial government closure could occur if the House and Senate are unable to reach an agreement by the deadline.

“People back in my district are kind of sick of the games going on in Washington,” Mr. James said during the recent interview. “If politicians don’t work, politicians don’t get paid. Where I’m from, Michigan’s 10th Congressional District, the number one manufacturing district in the nation, if you don’t work, you don’t get paid. And the same should go for DC politicians.”

Mr. James also voiced his frustration with some of his fellow lawmakers in his social media post, saying, “DC politicians talk a big game about both fiscal responsibility and protecting social programs, but are they willing to ‘put their money where their mouth is’?

“Fifty percent of my district is working poor, and 25 percent of my district is below the poverty line ... If we don’t have a solution to fund the government by 9/30, it will shut down. Meanwhile, members of Congress will continue making $174,000 per year to play chicken with your livelihoods when they should be negotiating in good faith on viable solutions.”

Legislation Details

Mr. James’s legislation would prevent lawmakers from both houses of Congress from receiving compensation during a potential government shutdown. It’s meant to kick in if the appropriations process fails, leading to the shutdown.

His bill was launched during a time of intense debate in Congress about budget priorities.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and President Joe Biden agreed on a spending cap, but conservative members of the House are pressuring their conference’s slim majority to make further cutbacks, and Senate Democrats have indicated they will refuse to consider any spending bills below that cap.

“Where I come from, not just in Michigan’s 10th congressional district, but also running a logistics company, I didn’t have a choice of whether or not to take care of my customers or take care of my employees; I had to do both,” said Mr. James. a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

“And in war, I didn’t have a choice whether or not to accomplish [the] mission or bring all of my men back home safely; I have to do both. Likewise, in Washington, the people who send us here expect us to fund the government to make the necessary cuts to make sure we take care of people, both now and in the long term.”

Speaking on other lawmakers’ responses to the legislation, Mr. James said, “We have spoken to a number of colleagues; there’s a little bit of excitement, a little bit of, frankly, hesitance because it’s something new. [But] it’s not something new that people will come and hold each other accountable.”

Similar Bill

Similar bipartisan legislation was introduced in May by Reps. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.).

The bill called “No Pay for Congress During Default or Shutdown Act,” or H.R. 3538 would have prevented lawmakers from being paid if the United States defaulted amid debt ceiling talks.

“If Congress can’t fulfill basic obligations tied to the strength and security of our country, lawmakers should not be rewarded with our salaries until we do our jobs,” Ms. Spanberger said in a statement.

“Working Americans get it—if you don’t do your job, you don’t get paid. I want to thank my colleague Congressman Fitzpatrick for his partnership on this commonsense legislation—a bipartisan bill that would not only incentivize cooperation during moments of looming default but also pressure elected officials to keep the doors of our government open, the livelihoods of our federal employees protected, and the American people secure.”

Mr. Fitzpatrick also weighed in on the legislation, saying, “Members of Congress promise to fight for their constituents in Washington and should not be paid a taxpayer-funded salary if they cannot deliver on that promise. Our bipartisan legislation is a no-brainer— lawmakers should not be paid if we irresponsibly default on our nation’s debt.”

The staunchly conservative Republicans in the House Freedom Caucus (HFC) aren’t backing away from their goal of liming discretionary spending to $1.471 trillion even in the face of a potential shutdown.

HFC’s Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.) said during their July 25 press conference on Capitol Hill, “The American people gave us the majority back in November because we ran on fiscal responsibility.”