Federal employees furious over the partial government shutdown vented their anger Friday in social media posts that show pay stubs with zero dollars in income.
Oscar Murrillo Jr. of Lancaster, California, tweeted an image of his upcoming Jan. 15 earnings statement from NASA with a red circle around a box that shows his net pay as “$0.00.”
“I just got my paystub, it was $0 (-$130 actually to account for mandatory deductions),” wrote Murillo, whose username is @jamito.
“However, my Senator @KamalaHarris is on a book tour charging $40 per seat. #ShutdownStory #DoYourJob”
He also included a link to a sold-out appearance that Harris (D-Calif.), a potential presidential candidate, made Wednesday at The George Washington University to promote her memoir, “The Truths We Hold: An American Journey.”
Catherine Lovetro, aka @CatLovetro, posted a screenshot of an employeeexpress.gov account that shows “$0.00” in both gross and net pay.
Her post came in reply to a tweet about air traffic controllers being forced to work without pay during the shutdown.
“Here’s my pay stub! #willvectorforfood,” Lovetro wrote, using a term for managing planes in the air.
The tweets were first reported by USA Today.
The shutdown began Dec. 22 when President Trump and Congressional Democrats failed to agree on funding for nine of 15 departments of the federal government.
The two sides are at odds over Trump’s demand for $5.7 billion to build a barrier between the US and Mexico.
The shutdown is set to begin a record-setting, 22nd day on Saturday.