Senate Unanimously Approves Withholding Members’ Pay During Government Shutdowns
Why It Matters
Federal workers in Idaho and across the country have faced serious financial hardship during recent government shutdowns, going without paychecks while members of Congress continued drawing their salaries. A new Senate resolution aims to change that dynamic by ensuring lawmakers feel the same economic pressure as the workers whose paychecks disappear when Washington fails to fund the government.
What Happened
The U.S. Senate passed a resolution on Thursday requiring senators’ salaries to be withheld during any government shutdown affecting one or more federal agencies. The measure passed with unanimous bipartisan support, a rare show of agreement in a closely divided chamber.
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., sponsored the measure and has been one of its most vocal advocates. “Shutting down government should not be our default solution to our refusal to work out our issues and our differences,” Kennedy said in a floor speech Wednesday. He described the resolution as a matter of “shared sacrifice.”
Under the measure, the secretary of the Senate would withhold members’ pay whenever a qualifying shutdown is in effect, releasing the funds only after full government funding is restored. The resolution is set to take effect the day after the November 3 general election.
Notably, the measure applies only to the Senate and does not extend to the House of Representatives. Kennedy acknowledged the limitation, telling reporters the House “is the House’s business,” while also alluding to ongoing friction between the two chambers. “There’s a very strong undercurrent of animosity among some of my friends in the House,” he said. “It’s quickly becoming like two kids fighting in the back of a minivan.”
By the Numbers
- Senators currently earn an annual salary of $174,000, though many members are independently wealthy.
- A 43-day full government shutdown earlier this year became the longest complete federal closure on record.
- A separate 76-day partial shutdown at the Department of Homeland Security became the longest agency-specific funding lapse in U.S. history.
- The DHS shutdown ended last month after the Senate moved to restore the department’s funding, affecting tens of thousands of federal employees.
Zoom Out
The back-to-back shutdowns have intensified frustration in Congress over the legislature’s repeated failure to pass timely funding bills. Federal employees at agencies including the Department of Homeland Security bore the brunt of the disruptions, with many going weeks without paychecks even as lawmakers continued to be paid under constitutional mandate.
The constitutional requirement that members of Congress be compensated has long been a sticking point. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., proposed a constitutional amendment earlier this year that would require members to forfeit pay during shutdowns entirely. While Graham argued his approach was the most legally sound, ratifying a constitutional amendment requires approval from three-fourths of state legislatures — a far more difficult path than a simple Senate resolution.
Kennedy’s resolution sidesteps that constitutional challenge by withholding pay temporarily rather than forfeiting it permanently, making it legally defensible while still creating a financial incentive for lawmakers to reach funding agreements quickly.
The Senate’s move also comes as lawmakers have faced growing public criticism for collecting full paychecks while government workers were forced to apply for emergency loans, defer bills, and in some cases, seek second jobs. Separate budget discussions in the Senate have continued alongside the shutdown accountability push.
What’s Next
Because the resolution applies only to the Senate, pressure may build on House leadership to advance a similar measure for representatives. Kennedy indicated his legislation is a starting point, and he acknowledged it does not go as far as he would prefer. Whether House leaders take up the issue remains unclear, given the ongoing tensions between the two chambers Kennedy referenced. The pay-withholding provision takes effect after this fall’s general election, meaning it would apply to the next Congress if a shutdown occurs.
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