{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.barrasso.senate.gov/barrasso-calls-on-democrats-to-pass-bill-paying-federal-workers-during-the-schumer-shutdown/", "Barrasso Calls on Democrats to Pass Bill Paying Federal Workers During the Schumer Shutdown", "2025-10-23", "2025", "2025-10", "Republican", "Senate", "WY", "John Barrasso", "B001261", "www.barrasso.senate.gov", "barrasso", "https://www.barrasso.senate.gov/newsroom/news-releases/", "scraper", "\u201cSenate Democrats have a choice. Pay essential workers who are working right now without a paycheck. Or send them into the weekend with empty bank accounts and bills they cannot pay. If Democrats vote no, it won\u2019t be about fairness. It will be about politics.\u201d\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Senate Majority Whip, today spoke on the Senate Floor prior to voting on Senator Ron Johnson\u2019s (R-Wis.) Shutdown Fairness Act. This bill would ensure that federal workers who are currently working without pay \u2013 such as Border Patrol agents, TSA agents, and air traffic controllers \u2013 will receive their paychecks during the Schumer Shutdown.\n\nClick HERE to watch Senator Barrasso\u2019s remarks.\n\nSen. Barrasso\u2019s remarks as delivered:\n\n\u201cToday is Day 23 of the Schumer Shutdown. And we just heard the Minority Leader right here on the Floor continue to practice the politics of pain, and it\u2019s pain felt by the American people. Remember, Senator Schumer is the one that said to the press, \u2018Everyday gets better for us.\u2019 I don\u2019t know who \u2018us\u2019 is. It\u2019s not the American people. It\u2019s not the people who come to work all across the country \u2013 the Wyoming National Guard, people all around America, people in your state as well as mine who aren\u2019t going to get paid. Senator Schumer said, \u2018Can\u2019t we do anything about it?\u2019 Yeah, we can open the government!\n\n\u201cYesterday, once again, they voted to keep the government shut. Tomorrow, hundreds of thousands of federal workers are going to miss their paychecks because Chuck Schumer and the Democrats will not vote to open the government. Democrats have now set the record for the longest full government shutdown in American history. In previous shutdowns, some agencies stayed open. This time, no one is getting paid. Democrats have shut down the entire government.\n\n\u201cDemocrats are more concerned with playing politics than protecting working families. And for them, it has been a big game with working families suffering. Now, they\u2019re finally being honest about it.\n\n\u201cJust this week, the House Democrat Whip told the press, \u2018Of course there will be families that are going to suffer\u2026 but it is one of the few leverage times we have.\u2019\n\n\u201cEvidently, Democrats believe that withholding paychecks, food stamps, and funding to feed women, infants, and children is leverage. Leverage for what? To give taxpayer-funded healthcare to illegal immigrants? To enact $1.5 trillion in permanent new spending? To impress radical left wing activist groups? Democrats are causing Americans to suffer because they want to pass liberal policies that Americans don\u2019t want and never voted for.\n\n\u201cRepublicans have proposed a clean, bipartisan continuing resolution that reopens the government and pays those who have been working for weeks without pay. Democrats have rejected it. Not once. Not twice. 12 times. It is a cycle of obstruction. Democrats voted for clean continuing resolutions 13 times when Joe Biden was president. Now, they oppose it. Why? Because President Trump is in the White House.\n\n\u201cSpeaking of President Trump, just days ago, he told the Democrats he is happy to meet, but first they must reopen the government. Yet since Democrats continue to refuse to reopen the government, the Senate will try the next best option.\n\n\u201cToday, this body will move to begin debate on Senator Ron Johnson\u2019s Shutdown Fairness Act. There is not a single good argument against passing it immediately. This bill ensures the men and women who keep our nation safe receive pay during the Schumer Shutdown. It pays our troops. They are protecting our nation at home and abroad. It pays the Coast Guard as they continue to patrol our waters. It pays Border Patrol agents defending our southern border. It pays members of ICE as they round up and deport illegal immigrant criminals. It pays air traffic controllers guiding flights safely to their destination. It pays TSA agents screening passengers at every airport in America. It pays Capitol Police officers. They have worked for weeks without pay. It applies back to the first day of the Schumer Shutdown. That means employees will get their full pay. It applies to this shutdown. It also applies to future shutdowns. That will provide stability and predictability to those who keep us safe.\n\n\u201cWould I prefer a clean continuing resolution that fully reopens the government? Absolutely. But Democrats have blocked a clean, bipartisan continuing resolution every single time we\u2019ve offered one. It has been reported that Democrats will filibuster this bill as well.\n\n\u201cSo, when Democrats stand up here today and criticize this bill, remember this. Senate Democrats have a choice. Pay essential workers who are working right now without a paycheck. Or send them into the weekend with empty bank accounts and bills they cannot pay. If Democrats vote no, it won\u2019t be about fairness. It will be about politics.\n\n\u201cRemember what the House Democrat Whip told the press. \u2018Of course there will be families that are going to suffer\u2026 but it is one of the few leverage times we have.\u2019 If Democrats vote no, it will be about \u2018leverage\u2019 for them and pain for the American people. It\u2019s time to reopen the government.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.barrasso.senate.gov/barrasso-calls-on-democrats-to-pass-bill-paying-federal-workers-during-the-schumer-shutdown/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9729820303618908, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}