With over 800,000 federal workers still going without pay as a partial government shutdown over border wall funding continues, some Colorado lawmakers are refusing to accept paychecks or planning to donate their earnings to charity.
When Denver’s FOX31 TV asked Colorado lawmakers about their positions on the shutdown and what they’d do with their paychecks, U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner’s (R-CO) office wouldn’t specify what he plans to do with his shutdown pay.
Colorado’s Democratic Senator, Michael Bennet, said he’d donate his shutdown salary to charity, and U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO) said she’d donate her paycheck to charity if federal workers aren’t paid retroactively.
U.S. Reps. Doug Lamborn (R-CO), Jason Crow (D-CO), and Scott Tipton (R-CO) are asking that their salaries be withheld until the government reopens, while U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO) plans on accepting his paycheck during the shutdown.
U.S. Reps. Joe Neguse (D-CO) and Ken Buck (R-CO) have yet to respond to FOX31’s inquiry.
Of those who did respond, however, Gardner is the only one who refused to specify what he plans to do with his shutdown pay.
According to FOX31, Gardner officials said that “during previous
It remains unclear, however, if Gardner fulfilled his promise during a previous government closure to donate his shutdown pay to charity.
During the 2013 government shutdown, Gardner said he was planning on donating his paycheck to the Weld Food Bank, but when the Washington Post attempted to confirm whether lawmakers who made such promises carried through, Gardner didn’t respond.
A call to Gardner’s office requesting comment was not returned.
Asked by the Colorado Times Recorder whether they ever received a donation from Gardner, the Weld Food Bank’s Stephanie Gausch said that information couldn’t be released due to their donor privacy policy.
In a 2013 interview with the Denver Post, when told by a reporter that Gardner planned on donating to the food bank, executive director Bob O’Connor
O’Connor did not return calls requesting comment.
The current shutdown, which began Dec. 22, is on track to become the longest in the nation’s history, trailing only the 1995-6 shutdown that lasted 21 days. Trump said last week that he’s prepared to let the shutdown last months or even years if it means securing funding for a border wall.