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Friday, January 28, 2022

UPDATED: Breaking the Law for Lisa Murkowski

[Updated 4:13pm AK Time] So it seems that Lisa is not breaking the law… just being really slimy about it.  She has claimed her staff as ‘excepted’ aka essential. Thus they need to show up to work – but don’t get paid until the shut down is over. Mean while 800,000 Federal Employees are deemed non-essential – and don’t get paid at all. Here are some people that are considered “non-essential” – while the person that get’s Lisa’s coffee is considered essential.

  • The Doctors at the Center for Disease Control that run the flu program
  • Employees that run the Department of Homeland Security’s E-Verify program that allows business’ to check if a person they’re hiring is a documented worker.
  • Almost everyone at the Environmental Protection Agency (how convenient)
  • The people that process Veteran claims.

All these people are less important than Lisa’s essential staff.

Here’s her recent facebook post responding to TheMudflats story:

Thanks to all the Alaskans for reaching about my staff and the shutdown. To comply with federal law, I have designated my staff as “excepted” staff – deciding against furloughing them. During a shutdown, and under federal law, I am required to designate my staff as either ‘excepted’ or ‘non-excepted.’ A staffer designated as ‘excepted’ must report to work and assist me to carry out my Constitutional responsibilities. In the legislative branch, it is only those designated as ‘non-excepted’ – or in the executive branch, ‘non-essential’ – that may not work during a shutdown by law. During a shutdown, nobody gets paid – but some employees are designated as ‘essential’ or ‘excepted’ and required to report to work. Here’s a useful article to walk you through the details: link to the Washington Post.

So Lisa, thanks for the update and good to know you’re reading TheMudflats and following Shannyn Moore – but one more question… Are you still getting paid?

Because as of right now you don’t seem that essential, but whoever is running your social media does.

———————– Previous post continues below—————————

Screen Shot 2013-10-01 at 2.03.20 PM In a facebook posting today Alaskan Senator Lisa Murkowski claims that she’s keeping the doors open to her office and that her staff is working – despite not being paid. “There’s a lot of uncertainty for federal workers and the Alaskans who know them or work with them every day. I want Alaskans to know and as we work to find a solution to this shutdown, my offices are open and staffed so that you will be able to contact me or receive the constituent services you need. My staff receives no pay for their work during this shutdown until a resolution is found. As for my DC office, if Alaskans have traveled over four thousand miles to meet with me, they will not be greeted by a ‘Closed’ sign – unlike at other offices. I am here to work for you, even if our government seems a bit broken right now. While that may seem very nice of her staff to do – it’s not technically… legal. A Washington Post article cites what they call an ‘obscure law’ in an article published yesterday:

Federal employees who do check their inboxes will technically be breaking an obscure law known as the Antideficiency Act, which was passed over a hundred years ago and carries a penalty of fines or even imprisonment.

So I guess if her now un-paid staff (hmm, unpaid staff… what’s an old term we used to use for that?) is just standing around not looking at computers or answering phones then it’s ok. I’m curious if Lisa is at least buying them lunch, as she’s still getting paid.

As I was just about to hit publish Sen. Murkowski published this video on her facebook page.

Lisa Murkowski: “If I’m the local sandwich shop around the corner from where the fish and wildlife service fielding is and if most of the folks who work for fish and wildlife aren’t working next week… what does that mean for me? How many loaves of bread do I make this next week? I think that we need to appreciate and understand when we’re talking about a government shutdown, it does not mean it does not just mean those who receive a check from the Federal Government….”  

Sure, now she gets it. Now that if actually effects her. The Federal government is more than a gov’ment handout… maybe she should talk to her friends in the House.

Meanwhile on Rep. Don Young’s twitter page this question continues to go unanswered.

 

Comments

comments

Comments
9 Responses to “UPDATED: Breaking the Law for Lisa Murkowski”
  1. AlaskaCodPiece says:

    What totally sucks is that these CINO’s (Congress in name only) are still getting their full paychecks — while all other federal workers get docked. How can they even look their staff in the face?!

    Throw in the Goldman Sacks style health care coverage our Republican “public servants” are getting – Yep, they sure are doing it to the will of the people!

  2. Carol says:

    Huffington Post reports that there are 12 (R) who would be willing to vote FOR a clean resolution that would restart the government. We should send comments to them thanking them and to the rest of the Gutless Obstructionist Partiers, of which our own Yon Dung is one, that they should put country over politics. I hope this is a correct listing. Rep. Pat Meehan (R-Pa.), Rep. Scott Rigell (R-Va.), Rep. Jon Runyan (R-N.J.), Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (R-Pa), Rep. Lou Barletta (R-Pa.), Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y), Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.), Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.), Rep. Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.), Rep. Scott Rigell (R-Va), Rep. Erik Paulsen (R-Minn.), Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.)

  3. Really? says:

    . Lisa has a fine healthcare policy. Why wouldn’t she want the people in her state and the United States to be able to also have the opportunity to supply their families with an affordable healthcare policy? WOMAN UP Lisa.

  4. karen marie says:

    Has she addressed how she gets around the illegality, not to mention immorality, of “asking” a subordinate to work for free, for any amount of time?

  5. fishingmamma says:

    It is getting harder every minute to keep my mouth shut while people around me are blaming the shutdown on “That Obama” I just know that it is not worth trying to explain this mess to people that (unbelievably) did not know yesterday that a shutdown was coming…..

    • Alaska Pi says:

      Had a startling experience at work yesterday.
      Very crusty, curmudgeonly older gent was in . I’ve always liked him , impatient, outspoken, hard edges and all. Fisherman for a bazillion years.
      He got into a conversation with another employee about the shutdown. His voice got loud enough to hear through the whole place.
      He was saying how angry he was with the House and went out the door saying “they need to do their GD job, they just need to get over it, he’s black, the President is black, they can’t say it and they can’t get over it, but they’ll take the whole GD country down for their problem with that!”
      I like him even more now.

  6. Moose Pucky says:

    Ummm, Lisa voted “no” on the clean CR. Basically, she supported the shutdown, along with the rest of the sorry GOP.

    • aussiebluesky says:

      It didn’t take but a few days before Lisa forgot who put her in office. She won’t get so lucky next time.

      • ivan says:

        her dad put her in office !
        the moronic conservatives of Alaska would re-elect Hitler if he was an incumbent republican.
        even if she does not get re-elected they will still elect a member of the corrupt, morally bankrupt, hypercritical, republican party.