BREAKING: Sen. Kennedy to Introduce Twin Bills Revoking Congressional Pay Amid Shutdown Standoff, Echoing ‘Goose and Gander’ Fairness

Washington, D.C. — As the federal government shutdown stretches into its 38th day—the longest in U.S. history—Louisiana Republican Sen. John Neely Kennedy announced Thursday he will drop two bills aimed at slashing congressional salaries during such crises, declaring, “If federal workers aren’t getting paid, neither should Congress… What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.” The populist push, delivered in a fiery Senate floor speech, taps into widespread voter frustration over the impasse, which has furloughed 2.3 million workers and left essential employees like air traffic controllers and Coast Guard personnel toiling without pay.

Kennedy, 73, a sharp-tongued appropriator known for his Southern drawl and viral takedowns of “Washington elites,” framed the legislation as a moral imperative. “I don’t see missing paychecks or empty dinner plates as leverage or bargaining chips,” he thundered, his voice booming off the chamber’s oak desks. “My bills ensure Congress feels the same pain as the folks we’re failing to pay—our troops, air traffic controllers, and federal workers. If we can’t do our jobs and fund the government, we don’t deserve a paycheck—plain and simple.” The announcement, timed for formal introduction Friday, has ignited a social media firestorm, with #NoPayForPoliticians trending on X, amassing over 150,000 posts by evening.

The duo of measures—the “No Shutdown Paychecks to Politicians Act” and the “Withhold Member Pay During Shutdowns Act”—navigate constitutional hurdles with surgical precision. The first bill would outright suspend salaries for all 535 lawmakers during a lapse in appropriations, barring back pay upon resolution—a direct rebuke to Article I, Section 6’s mandate for congressional compensation. The second, more nuanced proposal, would escrow paychecks in House and Senate payroll accounts, disbursing funds only at the next Congress’s start in January 2027, thus dodging the 27th Amendment’s bar on mid-term pay tweaks. Rep. Bryan Steil (R-Wis.), House Administration Committee chair, is co-sponsoring the escrow bill’s House companion, blasting Senate Democrats for the “Schumer shutdown” and insisting, “If service members… are working without pay, members of Congress should not be paid either.”

This isn’t Kennedy’s first rodeo on shutdown equity. In 2018-19’s 35-day impasse, he backed similar withholding measures, and on Thursday, he invoked President Barack Obama’s 2013 support for a pay-cut bill that “gave members an epiphany and found religion,” spurring a quick resolution. His latest gambit follows a failed Wednesday bid via unanimous consent to pass the bills alongside Sen. Ron Johnson’s (R-Wis.) “Shutdown Fairness Act,” which would retroactively compensate essential workers but not lawmakers. Objections from Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.)—who wants all feds paid—and Senate Appropriations Chair Patty Murray (D-Wash.) torpedoed the effort, with Kennedy lamenting, “I don’t know what else to do.”

The shutdown’s toll mounts daily, amplifying Kennedy’s clarion call. Triggered October 1 over Democrats’ resistance to President Donald Trump’s rescissions package—slashing $2 trillion in “wasteful” spending via the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)—it has idled national parks, delayed IRS refunds, and jeopardized $11 billion in SNAP benefits for 42 million Americans. Military families, facing base commissary shortages, have turned to food banks, while TSA screeners report burnout amid staffing cuts. A Monmouth University poll released Wednesday shows 62% of voters blame congressional Democrats, but 48% view the pain as “unacceptable,” with independents souring on GOP brinkmanship.

Supporters, spanning the MAGA spectrum to fiscal hawks, erupted in praise. On X, @NesaraGesara0’s clip of Kennedy’s speech garnered 10,000 views, with users cheering, “Finally! Troops unpaid, Congress paid? Hell no.” House Freedom Caucus Chair Bob Good (R-Va.) tweeted, “Kennedy’s got it right—shared sacrifice or shared shame.” Even some Democrats nodded: Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) retweeted, “Accountability for all—let’s end this mess.” Advocacy groups like No Labels hailed it as “bipartisan common sense,” estimating annual savings of $13 million per shutdown week at lawmakers’ $174,000 salaries.

Critics, however, decry it as performative theater. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) dismissed the bills as “GOP grandstanding” that ignores Trump’s “extreme demands,” like gutting clean energy subsidies in the rescissions bill. House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) shot back, “Families aren’t ‘leverage’—but neither is scapegoating workers while the president golfs.” Legal eagles question viability: Constitutional scholars like Laurence Tribe warn the outright ban could face Supreme Court scrutiny under compensation clauses, while the escrow workaround might sail through as a procedural deferral. On X, @Suzierizzo1 mocked, “Cute stunt, but pay Congress zero forever?”—echoing 1,200 likes.

Kennedy’s timing is tactical. A SenateAppropriations Committee member, he’s voted 14 times for clean funding bills, positioning himself as the reasonable Republican amid Trump’s unyielding posture. His own finances—disclosed at $7.4 million in assets—insulate him personally, but the bills burnish his everyman image ahead of 2028 re-election whispers. Polling from Rasmussen shows 71% public support for congressional pay cuts during shutdowns, a bipartisan balm in a polarized era.

As Friday’s drop looms, whispers of a bipartisan deal—perhaps a short-term CR with DOGE carve-outs—circulate. Kennedy, skeptical, quipped, “I’ve heard rumors, but we’re in for a while longer.” Yet his “two flavors” of accountability could jolt negotiations, forcing lawmakers to confront their own empty plates. In a Capitol rife with gridlock, Kennedy’s goose-gander gambit isn’t just policy—it’s a gut punch to complacency. Will it end the shutdown, or merely fuel the fury? The Senate’s next session holds the check.