With the federal government barreling toward the March 1 deadline for a deficit-reduction deal, it seems increasingly likely that Congress and the White House will blow it, and trigger the sweeping automatic budget cuts known as sequestration.
If sequestration goes into effect, hundreds of thousands of federal employees across the country—and especially in the D.C. area—would be forced to take furlough days. But one part of the federal government that would be immune to sequestration: Congress.
A petition being promoted by WUSA9, however, seeks to see Congress share the pain. For the past few weeks, the CBS affiliate has been asking its viewers to submit letters demanding that if federal employees are forced to take leave without pay, representatives and senators should do likewise.
The petition was prompted by a viewer who contacted Jessica Doyle, the station’s business reporter, who in turn has made it a running story. So far, the WUSA9 writes in an email, over 900 viewers have signed on.
Hey, we’re all for keeping Congress idled as much as possible, but unfortunately there are two problems with Doyle’s petition. The first is that furloughing Congress in the event of a sequestration that most analysts predict would cripple the economy is a rather self-defeating cause when the goal is to compel the legislative and executive branches to hammer out a budget deal. Keeping Congress home from work is all well and good during peacetime, but unfortunately their services are required in the present situation.
Then there’s the 27th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which states, “No law, varying the compensation for the services of the senators and representatives, shall take effect, until an election of representatives shall have intervened.”
In other words, even though Congress determines the salaries of its members, any increases or reductions must wait until the start of the next Congress to take effect. And as congressional pay modifications can only be made by the passage of a law, any bill attempting to include Congress in the pain of sequestration would have to wait until January 1, 2015 to grow some teeth.
When reminded of the 27th Amendment, Doyle suggested on Twitter that members of Congress could instead voluntarily pay additional taxes. Like they’d do that. And even if they did, any amount they overpaid would be refunded to them on next year’s returns.
So, unfortunately for WUSA9, this petition is full of holes. But its spirit is commendable, because it’s always fun to remind Congress just how much we think they suck.
