Mike Braun and Rick Scott’s ‘No Budget, No Pay’ Bill Advances Out of Committee

Sens. Mike Braun (R-IN) and Rick Scott’s (R-FL) No Budget, No Pay bill passed out of committee on Wednesday. The legislation would prevent any lawmaker from receiving a paycheck if Congress does not pass a budget.

On Wednesday, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee passed the Braun and Scott’s No Budget, No Pay bill out of committee.

Sen. Scott and Braun’s legislation serves as another method through which the two freshman Republican senators can shake up the congressional establishment and help Congress pass a budget. Sen. Braun said in an interview with Breitbart News this week that populism continues to fight against the “entrenched” establishment. The two conservatives also introduced legislation that would ban former lawmakers from lobbying once they leave offices.

Sen. Braun introduced the legislation back in January to force Congress to take its budgetary duties seriously. Braun told Breitbart News in January that the legislation would “put some teeth into the fact” that the budgetary process has become a “circus annually.”

Sen. Mike Braun said that the legislation’s progress through the Senate serves as a “big step” toward getting Congress to work for the American people again.

Braun said in a statement Wednesday:

In the real world nobody gets rewarded for not doing their jobs, and today’s victory for No Budget No Pay is a big step toward pulling Washington out of la-la land and getting Congress working for the American people again. I’m proud to join fellow job creator Senator Rick Scott in moving the ball down the field for this legislation, because there are consequences businesses and families when they don’t make a budget and it’s time we hold Washington to the same standard.

Sen. Scott said in a statement:

If member of Congress cannot work together to pass a budget, they should not be getting paid. It’s pretty simple. If we can’t do our jobs, we shouldn’t get a taxpayer-funded salary. My No Budget, No Pay amendment simply requires Congress to pass an annual budget and meet appropriations bill deadlines, or forgo their own salaries until the job is done. I’m glad my common-sense amendment passed today, and I urge all Senators who voted no to re-consider when this legislation gets to the floor. There is no reason members of Congress should be held to a different standard than American families and businesses across the nation. Accountability shouldn’t be controversial.

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) introduced similar legislation that would put lawmakers’ legislation into escrow until they passed a budget, to which Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) said he was “very concerned” about the bill’s precedent:

In January, Braun said, You need to be collectively accountable, and here with one year’s warning, get a budget here; you should be forced to do so and go where it really hurts and do not receive a paycheck.”