I won’t take it! Vice Mike Pence says he WON’T accept a pay raise while federal workers are furloughed — but no word if the rest of the Cabinet will turn down $10,000 hike
Vice President Mike Pence says he won’t take a pay raise while federal workers are furloughed.
Pence is one of the president’s Cabinet members in line to get a $10,000 raise as a result of shutdown that has 800,000 members of the federal workforce dipping into their savings to make ends meet.
The shutdown affects White House employees, forcing many off the job and halting a pay freeze for others.
Pence told DailyMail.com on Friday as he left a Rose Garden press conference that he would not take the money coming his way, however.
Vice President Mike Pence says he won’t take a pay raise while federal workers are furloughed
Pence is one of the president’s Cabinet secretaries in line to get a raise amid the shutdown that has 800,000 members of the federal workforce dipping into their savings to make ends meet
Pence turned around at the event after the president had called it to a close to indicate that he would not take the money the president suggested he and other top officials were not aware they would be getting in the first place.
The president seemed to be learning about the raises for the first time himself, telling a reporter a few minutes earlier in the news conference who asked him about it, ‘We’ll have to talk to the cabinet members then.’
‘I’m sure they don’t even know that,’ he added.
Asked if he tell them to turn it down, he appeared to think about it before replying, ‘I might consider that. That’s something I may consider.’
Pence volunteered to turn it down on his way out of the outdoor event that the president had him standing outside at for more than an hour alongside Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and House GOP leaders Kevin McCarthy and Steve Scalise.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement immediately following the press event that the administration is looking for ways to keep the raise from being implemented while federal workers are not paid.
‘This is another unnecessary byproduct of the shutdown. The Administration is aware of the issue and we’re exploring options to prevent this from being implemented while some federal workers are furloughed,’ she said. ‘Congress can easily take care of this by funding the government and securing our borders.’
The Washington Post first reported the pay raises that will go into effect on Jan. 5 without congressional action.
Documents released by the Office of Personnel Management revealed that a failure to pass appropriations bills for the remainder of the fiscal year inadvertently ended a federal pay raise that Congress approved in 2013.