Mo Brooks introduces ‘No Work Without Pay Act’ amid government shutdown

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It is the 19th day of the government shutdown and roughly 420,000 federal employees are currently working without timely pay or even the guarantee of getting paid, ,according to a report from the Senate Appropriations Committee. An additional 380,000 would be furloughed — meaning sent home without pay — the committee estimates.

With no end in site, the shutdown could put these federal workers in dire financial straits.

Which is why Alabama 5th District U.S. Rep. Mo brooks on Tuesday introduced H.R. 271, the No Work Without Pay Act — a bill that would ensure timely pay all employees who work during a government shutdown.

“During a federal government shutdown, federal employees are treated in two different ways. Roughly 380,000 federal workers[1] are ‘furloughed’ (sent home without pay until the shutdown ends). Roughly 420,000 other federal employees (like TSA agents or border patrol agents) are ordered to work without timely pay or even the guarantee of getting paid,” explained Brooks. “Ordering a federal employee to work without timely pay is morally wrong and runs counter to every economic principle on which a free enterprise system is based. I have today introduced the No Work Without Pay Act to correct this wrong by requiring that federal employees who are ordered to work are timely paid for their work.”

Brooks concluded, “Frankly, Washington should never have put federal employees in this position. When you consider that illegal aliens are a net tax loss of $116 billion annually[4] and that each year there are thousands of Americans who are dead at the hands of illegal aliens, $5 billion for a border wall is a paltry investment and a significant compromise down from the $25 billion needed to help secure America’s porous southern border. Unfortunately, too many Washington elected officials have made it clear that their thirst for political power is more important than the lives of American citizens. In a similar vein, I hope Democrats will rise to the occasion and treat federal workers better than they have treated American victims of illegal alien criminal conduct.”

To date, the longest government shutdown occurred under President Bill Clinton‘s tenure, lasting 21 days.