[FoxNew] The government shutdown costs taxpayers $400 million every day to pay federal employees who are not actively working, totaling $1.2 billion as of Friday, Congressional Budget Office (CBO) data published by the office of Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, estimates.
"Schumer’s Shutdown Shenanigans mean taxpayers will be on the hook for another $400 million today to pay 750,000 non-essential bureaucrats NOT to work," Ernst said in a comment to Fox News Digital Friday.
"Democrats’ political stunt to fight for taxpayer-funded healthcare for illegal immigrants has officially become a billion-dollar boondoggle," she added. "Enough has to be enough for the radical left. We must reopen the government and get Washington back to work serving veterans, families and hardworking Americans."
A law passed in 2019 requires furloughed employees receive backpay after a funding agreement is reached and a shutdown ends.
The CBO data was largely based on statistics from a five-week partial shutdown from Dec. 22, 2018, until Jan. 25, 2019, during the first Trump administration, the office noted in its letter to Ernst. |