Shutdown Theater Has an Added Price Tag That Congress Won't Like

Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) continues to drop this truth bomb on Washington: if Congress can’t keep the lights on, they shouldn’t get paid.

Sounds pretty simple, doesn’t it? Try explaining that to the professional procrastinators who treat shutdowns like sporting events and our livelihoods like poker chips. “We shouldn’t get paid if we don’t do our job,” Scott said, introducing his No Budget, No Pay proposal in early October. It’s not a slogan, it’s a mirror held up to a Congress that’s gotten far too comfortable failing forward.

🚨HOLY COW: Sen. Rick Scott is now working to SUSPEND all paychecks for members of Congress during a Govt. shutdown.

"We shouldn't get paid if we don't do our job."

Do you agree with Sen. Scott? pic.twitter.com/yyNDcCqWnE
— Carter Hughes (@itscarterhughes) October 27, 2025

Scott continues to press that point — and he's absolutely right.

Democrats voted to shut down our government 13 TIMES, preventing our troops and federal law enforcement from getting paid while still collecting their OWN PAYCHECKS!

Dems shouldn’t get paid if they won’t do their jobs! That’s why I’ve been pushing my No Budget, No Pay Act to… pic.twitter.com/OFTwW3oVb0
— Rick Scott (@SenRickScott) October 30, 2025

For years, every funding crisis has turned into the same predictable show: cameras, speeches, blame games, and carefully timed tears about the “families who will suffer.” Then, after all the grandstanding, politicians take their checks, slap each other on the back, and fly home for the weekend. The people missing paychecks are the TSA workers, the park rangers, the veterans waiting on benefits, not the politicians whose incompetence caused it.

Rick Scott’s bill flips the script. If the government shuts down, their paychecks stop, too. No back pay, no escrow loopholes, no business as usual. Just a dose of the same reality they inflict on everyone else. And it’s about time.

Washington has forgotten what accountability feels like. When you live inside the marble bubble of D.C., insulated by lobbyists, luxury, and lifetime benefits, “pain” becomes a talking point, not a personal experience. It’s easy to play political chicken when the impending crash is headed to someone else's car.

Democrats insist this is “populist theater.” That’s rich coming from the same people who shut down the government and then call press conferences to “stand with the working class.” Spare us. You can’t stand with the workers when you’re standing on them.

Meanwhile, middle-class families are stretching grocery money, soldiers are wondering if pay will arrive on time, and small business owners are tightening their belts. But hey, at least the same lawmakers who caused it will still collect $174,000 a year for their troubles, unless Rick Scott gets his way.

And this is where I can’t help but think of what real leadership actually looks like. When COVID hit, our church budget got tight. Donations dipped. Bills still had to be paid. So our lead pastors, myself included, made a decision: if pay had to freeze, it would start at the top. Before a single staff member missed a check, we’d take the hit ourselves. That’s how leadership works. You carry the weight, you don’t pass it down.

Here’s the truth no one in Washington wants to admit: They need the chaos. They thrive on it. Every shutdown becomes a stage for campaign clips, soundbites, and emotional manipulation. Suffering isn’t a tragedy to them, it’s leverage.

Rick Scott is calling their bluff.

For once, accountability is on the table. And that’s exactly why the political class is panicking. Because when the rules apply equally, when failure actually costs something, the game changes. And Washington doesn’t like playing without house money.

So yes, suspend their pay. Let them feel the pressure of their own dysfunction. Let them see what it’s like to miss a check while the bills keep coming. Maybe then we’ll finally get a Congress that works for the people instead of itself.

Rick Scott isn’t just making a point; he’s drawing a line. If you can’t do your job, you don’t get paid. It’s that simple. The rest of America lives by that rule every single day.

Maybe it’s time the Democrats in Congress finally joined us in the real world.

Editor’s Note: The Schumer Shutdown is here. Rather than put the American people first, Chuck Schumer and the radical Democrats forced a government shutdown for healthcare for illegals. They own this.

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