Kennedy on DHS shutdown: “Senators shouldn’t be paid, either.”

Kennedy on DHS shutdown: “Senators shouldn’t be paid, either.” Mar 26 2026 Watch Kennedy’s comments here . WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) issued the following statement regarding the ongoing shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security: “Here’s a cold dish of truth, folks: We’ve got 260,000 people who work at the Department of Homeland Security, and they have gone without pay for more than a month because my Democratic colleagues refuse to work with us to reopen the department. It’s unconscionable. It’s inexcusable. “Meanwhile, members of Congress have been receiving their pay as normal. Now, when fair-minded Americans hear that members of Congress haven’t missed a paycheck while more than a quarter of a million DHS employees go without, it triggers their gag reflexes. “And that’s why I have drafted a resolution. It’s been before all senators for some time. A resolution that bans members of the Senate from collecting their pay during government shutdowns until the shutdown is over. My resolution would require the Secretary of the Senate to place each member’s paycheck in a vault until the government reopens. It’s very simple. You don’t have to be an astrophysicist to figure it out. “Now, the resolution that I authored has already passed the Senate Rules Committee. Every single Republican voted for it. And every single Democrat on the Rules Committee voted for it. But now, my Democratic colleagues have shut down a portion of the government yet again, and they won’t support my resolution. They blocked it. “But look, I’m like the Terminator. I’ll be back again, and again, and again, to try to pass this resolution. I’m not trying to be a hero. I’m not trying to put anybody down. This is about shared sacrifice. “Senators shouldn’t be able to use a federal employee’s paycheck as a political pawn without sacrificing their own paychecks. In America, we call that fairness. We call that common sense. If the employees of the Department of Homeland Security aren’t being paid, senators shouldn’t be paid, either. And that’s just the bottom line.” Watch Kennedy’s remarks here . Full text of the resolution is available here .