Lawmakers earn over $20K each as 43-day government shutdown drags on

WASHINGTON, DC: As the nation endured one of the longest government shutdowns in US history, lawmakers earned $20,000 each, paid by taxpayers, according to The New York Post. Meanwhile, more than 1 million federal workers went without pay during the record 43-day shutdown.

President Donald Trump ended the shutdown by signing the funding bill. A handful of Democrats joined Republicans to break the standoff. The White House estimated that the shutdown cost the economy roughly $15 billion per week.

As federal workers went unpaid, lawmakers collected $20K each during historic shutdown

Lawmakers collected more than $10 million in total, even as federal employees went without pay. The shutdown caused cuts in food-stamp benefits, disrupted travel across the country, and created widespread economic uncertainty.

Kevin Hassett, one of Donald Trump’s top economic advisers and a contender to become the next Federal Reserve chair, said the economic slowdown during the shutdown cost the country 60,000 private-sector jobs.

Despite the disruption, members of Congress in both the 100-member Senate and 435-seat House continued receiving their constitutionally protected $174,000 annual salaries. Many of their own staff and senior Trump administration officials went unpaid for over a month.

Rank-and-file lawmakers earn around $476.71 per day before taxes, based on Congressional Budget Office figures. House Speaker Mike Johnson earned the highest salary on Capitol Hill at $223,500 a year, which amounted to more than $26,330 during the shutdown, or roughly $612.33 per day.

The Senate president pro tempore and the majority and minority leaders in both chambers earn $193,400 annually, roughly $530 per day. One exception was Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, whose office confirmed he refused his salary during the shutdown.

House passes bill to end 43-day shutdown as Donald Trump criticizes Democrats

President Donald Trump signed the funding bill late on Wednesday, November 12, officially ending the 43-day shutdown. The House passed the bill in a 222–209 vote. Most Republicans supported it, six Democrats joined them, and two Republicans broke ranks to vote with Democrats against it.

With the bill now law, thousands of federal workers returned to work, and pay was guaranteed. The shutdown, which began on October 1, had frozen large parts of Washington and left hundreds of thousands of federal employees without income.

As Trump signed the bill, he delivered a pointed message aimed at Democrats.

“For the past 43 days, Democrats in Congress shut down the government of the United States in an attempt to extort American taxpayers for hundreds of billions of dollars for illegal aliens,” he declared. “Today, we’re sending a clear message that we will NEVER give in to extortion.”