Following Four Days of Chaos on House Floor, Rep. Angie Craig Announces Bill to Withhold Member Pay Each Day Congress Can’t Pick a Speaker
No Pay for Disarray Act protects taxpayer dollars, penalizes members of the House for failing to elect a Speaker on time
“The folks we represent have to show up to work every day and actually do the job on time in order to get paid, and Congress should be no different.”- Rep. Angie Craig
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Representative Angie Craig (MN-02) announced that she plans to introduce legislation next week to withhold pay for Members of Congress if the House fails to elect a Speaker in a timely manner.
Rep. Craig’s No Pay for Disarray Act would reduce the annual rate of pay for a Member of Congress at a daily rate for each day a Speaker is not elected.
“The chaos we saw on the House Floor this week was unacceptable. It took four days for the House of Representatives to make progress toward electing a Speaker. That’s four days without legislation being introduced, four days without reliable constituent services and casework, four days without committee action, four days without security briefings for elected leaders,” said Rep. Craig. “The folks we represent have to show up to work every day and actually do the job on time in order to get paid, and Congress should be no different. My bill would protect our constituents’ tax dollars and discourage Members of Congress from playing politics when they should be working for the American people.”
The No Pay for Disarray Act would fully withhold daily member pay in future Congresses if a Speaker is not elected. In addition, during the 118th Congress, the bill would hold the pay in escrow for the days the Congress was without a Speaker and release it either on the last day of the 118th Congress or the day a Speaker is elected, whichever is sooner.
Throughout her time in Congress, Rep. Craig has led bipartisan efforts to ensure the responsible use of taxpayer dollars, reform Congress and root out even the appearance of corruption in Washington.
Click here to read the No Pay for Disarray Act.
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