Mike Lee Puts His Government Shutdown Foot Down: 'I'm Working. I'll Continue To Get Paid' (UPDATE)

As hundreds of thousands of federal workers continue to be impacted by government shutdown furloughs, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) has no intention of losing his paycheck.

In a recent interview with KUTV-TV obtained by BuzzFeed, Lee was adamant that despite dozens of his colleagues deferring or donating pay, he would not follow suit.

“I’m working," Lee told KUTV. "I’ll continue to be paid."

Lee's decision marks a break from his Tea Party and anti-Obamacare counterpart, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who on Monday announced he would donate his paycheck to charity. Congress' salaries are guaranteed during the shutdown, thanks to their money coming from a pool of mandatory funding.

As of Wednesday afternoon, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Reps. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) and Jim Matheson (D-Utah) were among the other Utah officials refusing their pay. As a senator, Lee collects an annual salary of $174,000.

UPDATE (Thurs. Oct. 3, 12:05 p.m. ET): Lee's camp quickly changed course later on Wednesday, claiming that the KUTV-TV story is "wrong" and that the senator will donate part of his pay to charity. Read the full report here.