Once in a while, even a Senator like the Senate Minority Leader, Chuck Schumer (D-NY) does the right thing, either by intent or by accident. In this case, it looks like a rare instance of the former; Senator Schumer is now on record supporting a measure that would prevent members of the United States Senate from being paid during a government shutdown. The measure to implement this was put forward on Monday by Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and requires 60 votes to pass.
That just became a lot more likely.
Senate Republicans' gamble to inflict pain on themselves to thwart future shutdowns just got an unlikely backer: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
The upper chamber is set to vote on Sen. John Kennedy's, R-La., resolution on Wednesday that would prevent senators from getting a paycheck during a government shutdown. It's a tool that Republicans hope will give them leverage in preventing Democrats from again shuttering the government in the fall.
And Schumer, who has led Democrats through two shutdowns in the last year, plans to support it.
Now, don't read too much into that last part. Senator Schumer's net worth is more than adequate (about $7 million) to let him go without pay for a few weeks or a few months. Plenty of Senators are well-off enough to weather another shutdown. So why would he support this? Well, maybe even Democrats can see the writing on the wall when the letters are big enough, and there aren't any words of more than two syllables.
"I'm going to vote for it," Schumer said. "And I think it has a lot of support."
Kennedy's resolution would direct the Secretary of the Senate to withhold lawmakers' pay until a shutdown is resolved. A rank-and-file senator earns $174,000 per year, while a leader of either party can earn over $193,000 per year.
His resolution would only pertain to the Senate, too. However, it wouldn't take effect until after the November midterm elections, and some Republicans fear that Schumer and Democrats will again shut the government down before voters hit the polls.
Senator Schumer's support will likely bring a fair number of Democrats along, which is making the passage of this look a lot more likely. And this may even provide some valuable intel to Senate Republicans who are up for re-election this fall, to see if their Democratic opponent is one who is so consumed with partisanship that they will break with their own party leadership to deny the GOP a win.
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Which brings us to the House of Representatives. Now, will the House consider any such measure? Will House Democrats follow Chuck Schumer's lead? That's far from certain. The House Minority Leader, Democratic Representative Hakeem Jeffries (NY-08), is utterly consumed with Trump Derangement Syndrome (as is Senator Schumer, but Rep. Jeffries' case seems more advanced) and may be less likely to support a measure that, as he sees it, gives the Republican Party any kind of win.
Smart money says this measure, this no-pay-for-shutdowns, will now pass the Senate. The House? Far less likely.
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