Shutdown faces taxpayer reckoning as lawmaker works to expose ‘true cost of Democrats’ political stunt’

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FIRST ON FOX: Republican Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst introduced a bill Wednesday that would require federal agencies to submit detailed reports outlining the true full costs of a government shutdown, including back pay for furloughed employees.

“Schumer’s Shutdown shenanigans have already wasted $4.4 billion paying 750,000 ‘non-essential’ federal employees not to work for more than two weeks,” Ernst told Fox News Digital.

“My Non-Essential Workers Transparency Actwill expose thelost productivity and true cost of Democrats’ political stunt,” she said. “It will also help expose which parts of the bloated bureaucracy are truly ‘non-essential’ and should be put on the chopping block to increase efficiency in Washington for taxpayers.”

Ernst’s bill would