Congresswoman Suzan DelBene announced today that she will return part of her pay this year as across-the-board cuts known as sequestration are currently being implemented.

DelBene will return 8.2 percent of her monthly paycheck to the United States Treasury, reflecting the across-the-board federal budget cuts that took effect last month, which has also impacted Congressional office budgets.

“As hundreds of thousands of federal workers face unpaid furloughs and funding for programs that working families depend on such as Head Start and Meals On Wheels are getting cut, the across-the-board cuts from sequestration are starting to impact people throughout the country. It’s only fair that elected leaders are affected as well,” said DelBene. “While I believe across-the-board cuts are the wrong approach to address our nation’s fiscal issues, as long as the sequester is in effect, I decided that taking a cut myself is the appropriate thing to do.”

The U.S. Constitution bars lawmakers from taking legislative action to manipulate their own salaries in the middle of their current term. Consequently, DelBene is taking this personal action to give back a portion of her salary in line with the sequester cuts as they are being implemented.

Additionally, DelBene will be co-sponsoring legislation later this week that would subject the pay of members of Congress to any possible future sequestrations.