Lawmakers should be locked in Washington when funding lapses occur, rather than leaving federal workers unpaid at home, Sen. James Lankford told a House panel on Wednesday.
Testifying before the House Appropriations Committee, the Oklahoma Republican urged lawmakers to pass the Prevent Government Shutdowns Act, a bipartisan proposal he co-authored with Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-NH.
The bill would automatically extend existing federal funding in two-week increments while forcing lawmakers and White House budget officials to remain in the nation’s capital until annual spending bills are finalized.
During his five-minute opening statement, Lankford cited the personal toll previous shutdowns have taken on federal employees, highlighting the story of Sheree Quick, a Transportation Security Administration agent in Las Vegas.
“During the last shutdown, she showed up to work every day and had no pay,” Lankford said. “She went more than 40 days without a paycheck. She didn’t know how she was going to pay for her essential blood pressure medication.”
Under the proposed legislation, if Congress fails to complete its appropriations work before the end of the fiscal year, an automatic continuing resolution would kick in to keep agencies open. However, strict restrictions would immediately apply to elected officials and executive staff.
Members of Congress and officials from the Office of Management and Budget would be prohibited from using official or campaign funds for travel outside Washington. The bill would also force Congress into session seven days a week and bar lawmakers from taking up other legislative business until all appropriations bills are passed.
“Nothing is more motivating in this town than jet fumes,” Lankford told the committee. “The pressure will not be on members of the federal family that are working at TSA [or] other places. The pressure will be on us to be able to finish our work on time.”
Lankford likened the enforcement mechanism to a simple rule from his childhood.
“As my mom, the Sunday school teacher and school teacher, often said, if you don’t finish your work during class, you have to stay after class until it’s done,” he said.
The measure has received technical assistance from budget offices in both the Biden and Trump administrations, Lankford noted.
He submitted into the record endorsements from a wide spectrum of outside organizations, including the American Federation of Government Employees, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Americans for Tax Reform, Americans for Prosperity, and the U.S. Travel Association.
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