White House dismisses McCarthy’s no paycheck shutdown pledge: ‘That’s theater’

The White House isn’t impressed with pledges from Congress not to accept paychecks during a government shutdown.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has reportedly vowed to work without pay if a deal isn’t reached to keep things running beyond this weekend. But Biden’s Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young said that’s nothing but theater.

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“Look, I’m glad that the speaker has made that statement,” she said during Friday’s White House press briefing. “By the way, members of Congress have to get paid constitutionally. So, maybe he’ll put it in a sock drawer, I don’t know. But they have to get paid during a shutdown.”

That won’t be the case for everyone, Young added.

“That’s theater. That is theater,” she said. “I will tell you, the guy who picks up the trash in my office won’t get a paycheck. That’s real, and that’s what makes me angry.”

Bloomberg’s Erik Wasson reported that McCarthy pledged not to take a salary if there’s a shutdown.

As Young noted, a clause in the 27th Amendment blocks officials from “varying the compensation for the services of the Senators & Representatives” between elections. Most government employees would be furloughed until things are up and running again.

However, lawmakers are permitted to donate their pay if they do not wish to accept their salary.

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Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) has also requested the federal government halt his paycheck if the government shuts down and withhold payments until a spending deal is finalized in Congress.

“It is my understanding that pursuant to the Constitution, members of Congress will continue to receive their pay during a lapse in appropriations,” he wrote in a letter to the chief administrative officer. “Therefore, I am requesting that in the case of a lapse of appropriations … my pay be withheld until legislation has taken effect to end such lapse in appropriations in its entirety.”