Rep. Gaetz Asks House to Withhold Pay During Shutdown

Conservative Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., on Tuesday requested that his salary be withheld until Congress passes appropriations to fund the government.

A government shutdown looms unless lawmakers agree to funding before Saturday's deadline.

Gaetz sent a letter Tuesday regarding his pay to Catherine Szpindor, chief administrative officer (CAO) of the House of Representatives.

"It is my understanding that pursuant to the Constitution, members of Congress will continue to receive their pay during a lapse in appropriations," Gaetz wrote in the letter, first obtained by the Daily Caller.

"Therefore, I am requesting that in the case of a lapse of appropriations beginning at 12:00 a.m. on October 1, 2023, my pay be withheld until legislation has taken effect to end such lapse in appropriations in its entirety."

Gaetz, a critic of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., has been adamant that the House needs to pass separate appropriations bills to keep the government funded and not continue to send billions of dollars to Ukraine.

Gaetz and other members of the House Freedom Caucus have said they're against a stopgap continuing resolution to keep the government funded temporarily, a plan McCarthy has touted.

Gaetz also has threatened a motion for McCarthy to vacate the chair. The speaker, when seeking the position in January, agreed to certain demands, including allowing any member to usher a vacate call.

If the motion to vacate comes to the House floor for a vote, it would only need a simple majority to pass. Republicans currently control the House 221-212, so McCarthy can't afford to lose more than four votes if he wants to keep his speaker's gavel.

Should McCarthy pursue the hard-right approach (spending cuts, conservative policy riders) favored by Gaetz and others, the legislation will be dead on arrival in the Democrat-controlled Senate.

Gaetz, stressing that a government shutdown is not what he wants, told Newsmax on Friday that a "short, temporary shutdown" might be the best prescribed medicine to cure the "disease" of spending in the federal government.

Reuters contributed to this story.