WASHINGTON D.C. – As President Trump and congressional Republicans steer the federal government into a shutdown, Senator Kim is continuing his fight to stand with working families across New Jersey and is formally requesting his paycheck be withheld during a shutdown until the federal government is fully reopened. 

“It’s wrong that the President and Members of Congress get paid during a government shutdown when our military and public servants don’t,” said Senator Kim. “I will be refusing my own pay if we end up in a shutdown. Government leaders shouldn’t be playing with other people’s chips.” 

In a letter to the U.S. Senate Disbursing Office, Senator Kim outlines that if the federal government shuts down due to the current lapse in appropriations, more than 48,000 federal employees and 10,000 active-duty servicemembers living in New Jersey face the prospect of either working without pay or being furloughed. He states that, “this is unacceptable.” 

Read the complete letter here. 

During his first days as a U.S. Congressman before entering the Senate, then-Congressman Kim requested his first paycheck from Congress be withheld due to a government shutdown in 2019. 

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