Originally Published byPittsburgh Post-Gazette
Written by Benjamin Kail

At least 10 members of Congress from Pennsylvania, including Rep. Scott Perry, have joined several others across the country seeking to refuse their pay during the federal government shutdown.

The shutdown, coming with Republicans and Democrats at odds over health care spending and President Donald Trump's actions a year before midterm elections, leaves hundreds of thousands of federal workers indefinitely furloughed or clocking in without paychecks. 

But not Congress or the president, according to the Constitution. House members and senators have been paid $174,000 since 2009; those in leadership roles receive roughly $20,000 to $50,000 extra. 

Even before a White House meeting between Trump and congressional leaders yielded no deal and the deadlocked Senate failed to advance a stopgap spending bill to keep the government running, Deluzio said lawmakers' pay should be placed on hold just like other federal workers and armed service members. 

"The way I see it, if our troops and others get screwed over by this Republican shutdown and miss paychecks, members of Congress should too," U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio, a Democrat from Pittsburgh, said on X. 

After the shutdown went into effect Wednesday, the congressman wrote to the House's chief administrative officer, Catherine Szpindor, asking for his pay to be withheld "until an appropriations agreement has taken effect." 

At least nine other members of both parties from Pennsylvania have made the same request, including Reps. Dan Meuser, John Joyce, Perry, Brian Fitzpatrick, Dwight Evans, Mary Gay Scanlon, Rob Bresnahan, Chrissy Houlahan and Lloyd Smucker. 

Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., did likewise, arguing it's wrong for members of Congress and the president to receive their salaries when public servants and members of the military are left waiting for pay. 

Deluzio and several other lawmakers nationwide are calling on Congress to support the "No Pay for Congress During Default or Shutdown Act" to automatically block congressional pay during shutdowns. 

"This is a serious bill drafted to comply with the Constitution's 27th Amendment, which governs changes to Congressional pay," Deluzio said in a statement before the shutdown. 

Initially proposed this session by Rep. Eugene Vindman, D-Va., during a near-shutdown in March, Deluzio became a sponsor on Tuesday. Fitzpatrick and Bresnahan signed onto the legislation in March. 

There is a separate Republican effort led by Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina, calling for a constitutional amendment in a resolution that "prohibits Members of Congress from receiving compensation for any period during which a government shutdown is in effect." 

The president has been paid a salary of $400,000 since 2001. Trump and a few other wealthy presidents have donated their salaries. During his first term, Trump gave his salary to several government agencies. 

Trump this summer said he donated his paycheck to the White House Historical Association to help with "much needed renovations." 

Pennsylvania is home to more than 100,000 federal workers, Gov. Josh Shapiro said this year. Most are now working without pay or furloughed. Under a 2019 law, they will receive back pay once the shutdown ends.