Early Saturday, the government went into a partial shutdown. To recap, this happened because Democrats put their foot down and refused to cosign the billions of dollars in funding President Donald Trump wanted for his border wall. Until a compromise is met, some non-essential federal offices will be closed, some federal employees will be furloughed (meaning, sent home without pay), and some federal contractors will be out of work and pay.
At the very least, it’s frustrating, and at the worst, it could ruin someone’s holiday season. Much less considering those who live paycheck to paycheck (for example, the janitors and food service workers who are technically federal contractors) or people who wanted to, you know, actually use federal services (say, to apply for a small business loan or call the IRS). Not that Trump cares.
Someone who does care? Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) announced that for every day Trump has the government shut down, she’ll donate her salary to a Nevada charity.
On Twitter, she stated:
“I remain committed to continuing to work with my colleagues to keep the federal government open. Sadly, President Trump has brought our country into yet another crisis right before the holidays. The Senate has already acted in a bipartisan way to fund the government. We now wait for our President to work with us. The President can end the Trump shutdown today. Until then, I cannot take a salary knowing that so many federal workers in Nevada and across the country will go without pay.”
Back in January, Cortez Masto, along with several other Congress members, asked for her paychecks to be “withheld” when the government shut down for three days over extending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).
It’s not explicitly stated how much money this will be. According to a 2018 Senate report from the Congressional Research Service, “most” senators come in at around $174,000. So if that’s the case for Cortez Masto, she’d be donating about $476 for each day the government is shut down, as estimated by Bustle.
She has yet to specify which charities she has chosen. But one thing is for certain: This is what real leadership looks like.