Dem rep asks for asks for pay to be withheld during shutdown

Freshman Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-Va.) sent a letter Thursday to the House chief administrative officer asking for her pay to be withheld as a partial government shutdown drags on into a third week.

“Because members of Congress continue to receive their pay during these shutdowns even though our constituents do not, please withhold my pay until an appropriations agreement has been reached and other federal employees begin receiving their pay,” she wrote. 

{mosads}Approximately 25 percent of the government shut down on Dec. 22, including the Departments of Homeland Security, Agriculture, Treasury, Commerce, Justice, Interior and State. Hundreds of thousands of federal workers have either been furloughed or required to work without pay. 

Wexton’s district is home to tens of thousands of federal workers. She defeated Republican incumbent Barbara Comstock in November and was sworn in Thursday.

Numerous lawmakers have said they will donate their pay to charity, such as Rep. Max Rose (D-N.Y.) and Sens. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.).

The partial government shutdown is in its 14th day as the White House and Capitol Hill have yet to come to an agreement on a spending bill, with funding for a border wall emerging as the focal point of negotiations. 

President Trump said Friday he is demanding $5.6 billion as part of any legislation to end the shutdown, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) have both said they would not agree to allocate any additional funds for the wall. 

Congressional leaders huddled with the president at the White House Friday for the second time this week in a meeting Pelosi called “contentious” and Trump called “productive.”