WASHINGTON – (CLARKSVILLENOW) As a partial government shutdown enters a third week, newly elected Congressman Mark Green joined several other House members saying they will refuse to take a government paycheck until Democrats and Republicans agree to a funding deal over President Donald Trump’s demand for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
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In a letter to the chamber’s chief administrative officer, Green asked that his salary be withheld “As long as the government is partially shutdown,” adding,“I do not believe it is appropriate for Members of Congress to be paid during a lapse in appropriations while hardworking border security agents and other civil servants are furloughed.”
White House officials and congressional aides will hold talks Sunday on reopening the government after the first round of weekend talks failed to end the impasse. Government workers will miss their first paycheck since the shutdown this coming Friday.
President Donald Trump is demanding $5.6 billion to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border or he will not sign a bill to re-open the government.
Green was elected to congress in November after serving six years in the Tennessee State Senate.