- If members of Congress don't come to an agreement in 9 days, the government will shut down.
- As it stands, the legislators would still get paid during their time off.
- A Democratic member of Congress just introduced a bill withholding their pay during a shutdown.
While taking a shot at House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Democratic Rep. Angie Craig just introduced a new bill to temporarily strip away the paychecks of members of Congress during a government shutdown.
On Wednesday afternoon, Craig announced that she had formally introduced the "My Constituents Cannot Afford Rebellious Tantrums, Handle Your Shutdown Act," also known as the "MCCARTHY Shutdown Act," with the expressed desire to halt members' pay for as long as the government remains shut down.
In a press release, Craig said she wanted to introduce the bill was "because it's ridiculous that we still get paid while folks like TSA workers are asked to work without a paycheck."
According to the bill, the paycheck of each member of Congress would be temporarily cut "one day's worth of pay" for every day the government is out of operation. If it ultimately passes, members of Congress will receive the full amount that was deducted from their paychecks at the end of the congressional session.
The vast majority of federal legislators earn $174,000 per year, though House and Senate leaders make more than $190,000.
As it currently stands, congressional leaders have just over a week left to come to an agreement to either fund the US government for another fiscal year or at the very least for a short period of time to continue negotiations to avoid shutting down.
Inter-group fighting between GOP members in the House has prevented House Speaker Kevin McCarthy from actually bringing a funding bill to the floor.
The desire from some in the Republican Party to let the government shut down has increased in recent days after former President Donald Trump called on House Republicans to "defund all aspects" of the government in order to "defund these political prosecutions against me and other Patriots."
Watch: Airports are dealing with massive lines during the government shutdown as TSA employees are working without pay
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