EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Bryan Steil faults Senate Democrats for Capitol Police potentially missing first full paycheck in years
"Senate Democrats have now voted eleven times to literally defund the police officers who work every day to protect visitors, staff, and lawmakers alike," Rep. Bryan Steil told the Washington Reporter
The latest casualties of the Schumer Shutdown are about to be the U.S. Capitol Police officers who are poised to work without pay to protect the very lawmakers keeping the government closed.
Rep. Bryan Steil (R., Wis.), the Chairman of the House Committee on Administration, exclusively laid the blame for this upcoming missed paycheck at the feet of Senate Democrats.
“Once again, Senate Democrats are blocking pay for the brave men and women of the U.S. Capitol Police,” Steil said. “These officers will now miss a second paycheck because Democrats refuse to join Republicans in reopening the government. Senate Democrats have now voted eleven times to literally defund the police officers who work every day to protect visitors, staff, and lawmakers alike.”
USCP officers received a partial paycheck on October 10th, which did not include pay for any of their work in October. The end of this week looms large for the police officers who protect visitors to the Capitol, staffers, and Republican and Democratic lawmakers alike, but the Schumer Shutdown is unlikely to be resolved with enough time to pay them.
While President Donald Trump was able to move funds around — over the objections of many Democratic lawmakers — to pay the military, a similar one time workaround is likely not available for Congress to pay the USCP.
With cops poised to miss a full paycheck due to obstinance from Senate Democrats, Steil’s ultimatum to the other side of Capitol Hill is simple: “Democrats in the Senate need to wake up and realize the harm they are causing to our Capitol Police officers,” he told the Reporter.