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View Full Version : Lawmakers still get a check, even in shutdown mode



Tyr-Ziu Saxnot
10-02-2013, 08:30 AM
http://news.yahoo.com/lawmakers-still-check-even-shutdown-mode-230131223--politics.html
Associated Press
HENRY C. JACKSON 12 hours ago
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WASHINGTON (AP) — There's at least one constant in a government shutdown: The 532 members of Congress continue to be paid — at a cost of $10,583.85 per hour to taxpayers.

Lawmakers get their pay even as hundreds of congressional staffers are sent home, packs of tourists are turned away at the Capitol, and constituent services in many offices grind to a halt. Most entrances to House and Senate office buildings and underground parking garages are closed.

House members and senators can't withhold their own pay even if they want to. Under the Constitution's 27th Amendment, lawmakers can only change the pay of those in a future Congress, not the one in which they serve. Senators and House members are paid $174,000 a year; a handful of leaders make up to $20,000 more.

Lawmakers aren't oblivious to how it looks. Republican Sen. Ted Cruz and others are pledging to donate their salaries to charity during the shutdown.

While lawmakers' paychecks will continue, the same isn't true for their aides and some support staff at the Capitol. Like some 800,000 other federal employees judged to be nonessential and therefore furloughed, thousands of workers on Capitol Hill were sent home Tuesday. Those who weren't will still see their paychecks delayed. Royal commands were given and all in the land had to obey. All except the King , the nobles and their families... Think about it folks..-Tyr