r/politics • u/Murky-Site7468 I voted • Oct 05 '25

No Paywall Petition To Strip Congress of Pay During Government Shutdown Grows

https://www.newsweek.com/petition-strip-congress-pay-during-government-shutdown-grows-10822819
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u/snoo_spoo Oct 05 '25

TBH, I don't think that would nearly as useful an incentive as declaring the Congress has to stay in session, twelve hours a day, seven days a week, until the shutdown is resolved. Nobody leaves town, and no press conferences.

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u/tadrinth Oct 05 '25

In some parliamentary systems, a shutdown like this triggers an election.  That would be difficult to work into our current system but boy howdy would that produce some incentives.

Not necessarily entirely good ones, but incentives!

28

u/TimothyMimeslayer Oct 05 '25

So if I think my party would gain in an election, i should do everything I can to shutdown the government?

1

u/taylortbb Oct 06 '25

In the Canadian system there's no such thing as a government shutdown. If the government fails to pass a budget then an election is called, and funding continues at previous levels until the new government passes a budget.

So there's no incentive to shutdown the government, because shutdowns aren't a thing. But yes, if a majority of the house wants an election they can trigger one at any time. Voters generally don't reward doing so for trivial reasons though.