OMB director knocks McCarthy claims he won’t take a salary during shutdown: ‘That is theater’

Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Shalanda Young on Friday knocked reports that Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said he won’t take a salary during a looming government shutdown.

“Look, I’m glad that the Speaker’s made that statement. By the way, members of Congress have to get paid constitutionally, so maybe he’ll put it in a sock drawer. I don’t know, but they have to get paid during a shutdown,” Young told reporters when asked if President Biden also plans to pause his salary during a possible shutdown.

“That’s theater. That is theater. I will tell you, the guy that picks up the trash in my office won’t get a paycheck. That’s real. And that’s what makes me angry,” Young said.

Congress is hurtling toward the possibility of a shutdown, with less than two days left to fund the government.

Young also said the White House is working to “plead, beg, shame” Republicans over the shutdown.

“We’re doing everything we can to plead, beg, shame House Republicans: ‘Do the right thing, don’t have this happen,’” Young told reporters.

“The cavalier-ness is what gets me. I’ve heard people say in the Republican in the House conference, ‘Oh, shutdown is not that bad. It’s not like the debt ceiling.’ Well, you go tell people who cannot pay their day care bill. You go tell people that,” Young said.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stressed on Friday the potential impact on Americans if the government does shut down, arguing Republicans “literally can fix this.”

Asked whether Biden will meet with McCarthy, Jean-Pierre said “the people that McCarthy needs to talk to are his own caucus. That’s who he needs to have a conversation with, not the president.”

Following the briefing, reports rolled in that more than 20 House Republicans joined Democratic House members in voting down a GOP-backed bill to avert a shutdown 232-198.