‘Is he coming back?’: Sen John Kennedy left hanging as Democrat bolts hearing after objection

WASHINGTON, DC: There was confusion on Capitol Hill on Sunday, March 22, when Sen John Kennedy floated a proposal to block senators from collecting paychecks during the ongoing partial government shutdown and any future ones.

The idea barely got off the runway. 

Sen Brian Schatz quickly objected and then disappeared just as quickly. Lawmakers in the chamber turned their heads as Schatz made his exit, leaving behind a room full of puzzled colleagues.

“With respect, I want to give my colleague Senator Schatz more time. He objected and left the chamber. Is he coming back?!” Kennedy asked. “Is he ill? What should I do?”

No one had an answer. Kennedy stood there, palm turned upward.

Sen John Barrasso wondered aloud whether it was even proper for a senator to object and then “run out.”

“An objection was raised and an objection was heard,” offered Sen Jim Banks.

John Kennedy’s pitch to halt pay for Congress during shutdowns

Before the abrupt exit, Kennedy had laid out his proposal in plain terms.

"It would change Senate rules to provide that when we are in a shutdown, that senators cannot be paid, cannot receive their salaries," he said. "Their checks would be... think of it this way… locked in a vault. And once the shutdown is over, the senators could pick them up."

It’s not a new idea. Kennedy pushed a similar plan last fall and revived it as the current shutdown dragged into its 36th day. The standoff has even prompted President Donald Trump to deploy ICE agents to airports nationwide to ease long security lines.

Still stuck at the podium, Kennedy tried again to get clarity as he turned back to Banks for answers. The latter said he cannot “opine on why a senator is or is not in the chamber.”

“Can you opine on why my colleague objected and then immediately left? And whether he’s coming back?” he pressed.

“Uh, not an appropriate parliamentary inquiry,” Banks replied.

John Kennedy says his push is about a 'shared sacrifice'

Kennedy later took to social media to make his case.

"Today, I tried to pass my resolution to stop senators’ pay during government shutdowns. The Democrats objected without explaining why," he wrote. "My resolution is about shared sacrifice. It’s about—in some small way—sharing the pain of our TSA and other workers at DHS, who are not being paid because Democrats shut down the department."

Sen Katie Britt offered support, arguing Congress might suddenly find its sense of urgency if paychecks were on the line.

“And I believe John Kennedy has a bill and it says that if we don’t do our job and that if people aren’t getting paid in the government, that have stepped up to serve the United States government, then Congress shouldn’t get a paycheck either,” Britt said on Fox News’ 'The Sunday Briefing'.

“I firmly support that, and I think if that moved through the Senate and the House, then ultimately, people would be much more eager to find a resolution, and I am all for it,” she added. 

Kennedy isn’t alone in the push to block paychecks. In March last year, Reps Brian Fitzpatrick and Eugene Vindman introduced the "No Pay for Congress During Default or Shutdown Act," targeting both shutdowns and debt ceiling brinkmanship.