President Trump on Tuesday questioned why Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) continues to receive a salary during a prolonged partial government shutdown, which has left hundreds of thousands of federal workers without pay.
Trump has been seeking to put the blame on Democrats amid polls that show more people blame him for the partial government shutdown, which was triggered by the president’s demands for funding for a Mexican border wall.
Parts of the government are open because Trump did sign spending bills for some departments, including the legislative branch.
In response to questions about Trump’s remark and whether the Speaker was donating or forgoing her salary, Pelosi’s office pointed to a tweet in which she called on Trump to reopen the government.
Her spokesman, Drew Hammill, tweeted in response to Trump that the House has “repeatedly passed bills to re-open government.”
{mosads}The Democrat-held House has passed a series of bills in recent days to individually reopen several agencies, including the departments of Treasury, Interior and Housing and Urban Development, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency.
In the Senate, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has said none of the bills will be brought up absent an agreement between Trump and Democrats.
Hundreds of thousands of federal workers have been furloughed or been forced to work without pay amid the shutdown. An increasing number of Transportation Security Agency workers have called in sick as they go without pay, though the agency has insisted travelers’ safety is not compromised.
Dozens of lawmakers have said they will donate or forgo their salary during the shutdown.
Trump has insisted that many federal workers support his taking a stand on the wall, though a number of workers have shared stories in recent days of struggling to make ends meet.
Trump and lawmakers have said federal workers will receive back pay once the government is reopened.
Updated at 9:56 a.m.