“And if a Member of this body disagrees with what I am doing, then, by God, they ought to come down here and stand up in front of the U.S. Senate and stand up in front of the American people and stand up in front of God and stand up in front of country and stand up in front of all these people—these good people that aren’t being paid—and say: Here is why.”
Watch Kennedy’s comments here.
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) attempted to pass his resolution to withhold senators’ pay during government shutdowns via unanimous consent on Sunday, but Senate Democrats objected and blocked the resolution.
“And here is what my resolution would do: It would change Senate rules to provide that, when we are in a shutdown, that Senators cannot be paid, cannot receive their salaries. Their checks would be—think of it this way, Mr. President—locked in a vault. And once the shutdown is over, the Senators could pick them up,” Kennedy explained.
“This resolution—again, it is not a bill—is about shared sacrifice. And I am not doing it to punish anybody. I am not doing it to try to embarrass anybody,” Kennedy said, later adding, “It is about shared sacrifice and sending a message. We have about a squillion employees at the Department of Homeland Security that aren’t being paid, and there is no prospect of them being paid.”
Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) then objected to Kennedy’s unanimous consent request without being recognized by the Chair or stepping forward to explain his objection.
“Can you opine on why my colleague objected and then immediately left, and whether he is coming back?” Kennedy asked. The parliamentarian then claimed that Sen. Schatz did not need to be recognized to block Kennedy’s resolution from passing through unanimous consent.
“All right. I am coming back, Mr. President,” Kennedy said. “And I am coming back, and I am coming back, and I am coming back. Did I mention I will be back? And if a Member of this body disagrees with what I am doing, then, by God, they ought to come down here and stand up in front of the U.S. Senate and stand up in front of the American people and stand up in front of God and stand up in front of country and stand up in front of all these people—these good people that aren’t being paid—and say: Here is why.”
Kennedy first introduced early versions of this legislation in November 2025 during the historic 43-day government shutdown and fought for their passage on the U.S. Senate floor.
Kennedy’s resolution received unanimous, bipartisan support in the U.S. Senate Rules Committee in December 2025.
Full resolution text is available here.
Watch Kennedy’s speech here.
