US taxpayers have already paid $1.2 billion in wages to employees who have been laid off due to the ongoing US shutdown, said Republican Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa.
“Because of (Senate Minority Leader Chuck) Schumer's whims to shut down the government, taxpayers will now have to pay another $400 million to pay 750,000 nonessential bureaucrats for not working,“ Ernst told Fox News, which reported that the total has now reached $1.2 billion since the shutdown began.
She added that The “Democrats' political stunt“ to fight for taxpayer-funded health care for undocumented immigrants has officially become a waste of billions of dollars.
The U.S. federal government shut down on Wednesday after Congress failed to reach an agreement on a spending bill. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that an estimated 750,000 federal employees could be furloughed each day of the shutdown. Those workers will not be paid until they return to work after the shutdown ends.
Republicans control both houses of Congress but need 60 votes to pass a government funding bill in the Senate. The ruling party currently holds 53 seats.
Trump has previously said he could use the shutdown to make sweeping cuts to staff and pay. He claims that the Democrats' position created the budget impasse and that the White House is taking advantage of the current situation to eliminate programs that Republicans don't like.