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Congressman Glenn Grothman (R-Glenbeulah) today called on House leadership to bring H.R. 271, the No Work Without Pay Act, to the floor for a vote. This bill will ensure that the roughly 420,000 federal employees who are required to work during a federal government shutdown receive their full pay in a timely manner. Grothman is one of just 12 co-sponsors of H.R. 271.

Currently, during a federal government shutdown, federal employees are treated in two different ways. First, roughly 380,000 federal workers are furloughed, or sent home without pay until the government reopens. Second, roughly 420,000 other federal employees (such as TSA, border patrol agents, air traffic controllers, Coast Guard and correctional officers) are ordered to work without timely pay or even the guarantee of getting paid.

“Today, I call on Speaker Pelosi and the rest of House leadership to bring H.R. 271 to the House floor for a vote.” Said Grothman. “I, and every one of my colleagues, come into work and see federal employees who are required to work during the shutdown, but continue to live without certainty of a paycheck. It is against the very morals of our country to force people to work without the guarantee of pay.

I can’t imagine what House leadership was thinking when they decided to make working federal employees wait the length of the shutdown, to receive their paycheck. Speaker Pelosi and the Democratic leadership made the conscious decision to pay those who aren’t working, while continuing to snub the Coast Guard and correctional officers that put their lives on the line every day. This is nothing short of a national security risk.

After talking to many of my colleagues, I don’t believe they realized that the bill that passed the House last week, S. 24, did not address the problem of federal employees who work during a shutdown not receiving a paycheck. If a federal employee is working during a government shutdown, he or she should be able to count on a paycheck for that work. That is why I am calling on House leadership to think about federal workers and their families and bring H.R. 271 to the floor for a vote.

I am committed to ending the partial shutdown, securing our borders and getting federal employees back to work. That is why I have asked the Chief Administrative Officer of the House of Representatives to withhold my pay until a deal is reached and the government reopens.”

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U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman is serving his third term representing Wisconsin’s 6th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.