WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) and Barbara Boxer (D-Ca.) on Tuesday introduced the Government Shutdown and Default Prevention Act, legislation that would prevent Members of Congress and the President of the United States from being paid during a default or shutdown of the federal government.
"This is common sense legislation that ensures that lawmakers are held accountable for a failure to act in the best interest of our economy and nation," Casey said through a statement from his office. "Playing roulette with the credit standing and functioning of the United States government is simply an unacceptable risk to the security of middle class Americans."
Casey and Boxer introduced the same legislation in the 112th Congress, which passed the Senate in March 2011 by unanimous consent. However, the House did not act on the measure.
Economists and business leaders have warned that a default would have catastrophic impacts on the global financial system and the U.S. economy, and a government shutdown would hurt millions of Americans by disrupting Social Security checks, benefits for veterans and paychecks for our troops.
The Government Shutdown and Default Prevention Act would prevent members of Congress and the president from being paid retroactively after a government shutdown, and also would prevent them from being paid if the public debt limit is reached and the government defaults on its financial obligations.
Currently, members of Congress and the President are treated differently from millions of other federal employees because they are paid through mandatory spending required by law (2 U.S.C. 31 and 3 U.S.C 102) rather than through the annual appropriations process. The Casey-Boxer bill "would fix this inequity," Casey said.