Nikki Haley Floats Ultimatum for Congress to Get Paid

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley told CNN's Jake Tapper on Thursday that if Congress doesn't pass a budget on time, they shouldn't "get paid."

The Context:

U.S. lawmakers failed for months to approve a funding package for the 2024 fiscal year, which began October 1, 2023. To keep the government from shutting down, Congress has passed multiple short-term funding bills.

Congress will return from Presidents' Day recess next week, leaving them with just three days when both chambers are in session to approve the first four appropriations bills before the March 1 deadline. If Congress fails to do so, there will be a partial government shutdown. Funding for the majority of government agencies is set to expire on March 8.

What to Know:

During The Lead with Jake Tapper, the host asked Haley, former South Carolina governor and ex-United Nations ambassador, how she would advise House Speaker Mike Johnson if she were president.

"If I were president, I would remind every member of Congress, Republican and Democrat, that they have just one job, one job, and that's to give us a budget on time. And Congress has only given us a budget on time four times in 40 years. And so, what I would say to them is if you don't get us a budget on time, you don't get paid," Haley said.

She continued: "It is not our job to get into their squabbles in Congress. It is their job to give us a budget on time and not make the American taxpayers feel this."

"Right now, nothing is getting done in [Washington,] D.C. That's the problem," Haley added. "That's why I'm adamant about term limits, that's why I'm adamant that they shouldn't get paid if they don't do their job, and that's what I think the American people want."

Newsweek reached out to Johnson's office and Haley's campaign via email for comment on Thursday.

The Views:

North Carolina Republican Representative Patrick McHenry, House Financial Services chairman, told CBS News' The Takeout podcast this week: "I think the odds [of a government shutdown] are 50-50 at this point."

McHenry placed the pressure squarely on Johnson: "All the speaker has to do is allow the Appropriations Committee to go get a deal."

"We will have a deal by March 1 and March 8 if we can allow just momentum to occur. If the speaker wishes to stop it for whatever reason, we'll probably have a government shutdown. It will come down to the speaker's decision on whether or not to just fund the government and get on with the deal," McHenry said.

What's Next?

Johnson and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, already negotiated the overall spending amount for government programs, but specific allocations under individual spending bills need approval.

It's unclear what will happen in March as Johnson faces mounting heat from far-right House Republicans to include policies in the government spending bill, which, as Tapper told Haley, "would, frankly, never pass a Democratic-controlled Senate, let alone be signed into law by President [Joe] Biden."

Demands by the House Freedom Caucus include reducing the salary of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to $0 and defunding the World Health Organization.

Update 02/22/24, 5:27 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.