BREAKING: Senate Votes to CUT Their Own Pay During Shutdowns

The shutdown issue has generated genuine shame across party lines after the record-breaking impasses of the past twelve months. Led by GOP Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana, the resolution directs the secretary of the Senate to withhold pay from senators during a lapse in appropriations for one or more federal agencies or departments.

The payments would be released after the shutdown comes to an end. Kennedy called it “shared sacrifice,” pointing to how federal employees generally go without pay during a shutdown.

Last year, the government was shut down for 43 days as Democrats in Congress protested the expiration of healthcare subsidies. Kennedy’s resolution comes after federal workers faced a historic 43-day government shutdown late last year caused by a deadlock between parties over Affordable Care Act subsidies.

During that time, approximately 670,000 federal workers were furloughed, 60,000 workers outside the federal government lost their jobs and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program recipients lost out on benefits all while members of Congress continued to receive their salaries.

The 43-day shutdown was followed almost immediately by a second, partially overlapping funding crisis. Kennedy first introduced the resolution during last fall’s then-record 43-day full government shutdown.

The government partially shut down again for 76 days earlier this year over a funding impasse between congressional Republicans and Democrats involving the Department of Homeland Security. The 76-day DHS shutdown, which ended just weeks before this resolution was adopted, became the longest partial agency shutdown in American history.

The Secret Service, the TSA, the Coast Guard, and FEMA operated without routine appropriations during that period. Kennedy said on the Senate floor: “We ought to hide our heads in a bag. It’s got to stop. Shutting down government, it should not be our default solution to our refusal to work out our issues and our differences.”

Kennedy’s floor statement acknowledges the institutional failure that the resolution is designed to address. The Senate has been using government shutdowns as a default negotiating mechanism at the expense of federal workers, contractors, and citizens who depend on government services.

Senators continued to receive their $174,000 annual salaries throughout each shutdown. The resolution ends that arrangement for Senate members.

The resolution only applies to members of the Senate and does not need to be approved by the House or signed by President Trump. It would take effect after the midterm election, so it would not apply to a possible government shutdown this fall.

Republicans think another shutdown is likely because of the deep animosity between Trump and Democratic senators. The Senate voted 99-0 on the motion to end debate on proceeding to the resolution, signaling overwhelming support.

The limitation to Senate members only reflects constitutional constraints on what a Senate-only resolution can accomplish. It also reflects the practical reality that getting House buy-in on identical legislation has historically been difficult.

Speaker Mike Johnson has not indicated whether the House will adopt a similar measure applied to its own members’ salaries in the future. “We’ll have to find out,” he previously told reporters. “I mean, the House has some ideas on that as well, so we’ll see what consensus we can build on.”

The bipartisan support for the measure comes at a time when federal closures have become longer and more frequent, frustrating lawmakers who say there should be punishment when Congress fails at its most basic legislative duty.

Under the resolution, senators’ pay would be withheld by the secretary of the Senate whenever a government shutdown affects one or more agencies, then released once funding is restored. It will take effect the day after the November election.

The bipartisan nature of the vote deserves emphasis because genuine bipartisan unanimity in the current Senate is extraordinarily rare. Senate Democrats and Republicans have disagreed on virtually every major piece of legislation over the past eighteen months.

Senators approved the resolution by voice vote, despite some questions as to whether it was constitutional. The Constitution only states that lawmakers are to be paid from the Treasury, with no exceptions mentioned.

Kennedy has maintained the resolution is not unconstitutional and did not expect any challenges from his colleagues on those grounds. The constitutional debate centers on whether financial pressure on lawmakers creates concerns about legislative independence.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer publicly supported the measure ahead of the vote. “Yes, I’m going to vote for it, and I think it has a lot of support,” the New York Democrat said Wednesday.

Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., said she has donated her paycheck during past shutdowns, including last fall to causes involving healthcare and Meals on Wheels. “I’ve always believed no Member of Congress should be paid if the government is shut down,” she wrote on X.

Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., also backed the measure, posting: “No member of Congress should receive a dime while hardworking Americans wonder how they’ll afford to live their lives because of government dysfunction.”

The secretary of the Senate will administer the withholding process. The withheld pay will be held rather than permanently forfeited, meaning senators will receive the money once the shutdown ends.

Senators earn $174,000 per year, or approximately $14,500 per month. A 43-day shutdown would have meant roughly $20,400 in withheld pay, while a 76-day shutdown would have meant approximately $35,600.

Kennedy previously introduced stronger legislation that would have permanently withheld pay and applied to both the Senate and House, but those proposals failed to gain traction. The resolution that passed is a narrower version focused on temporary withholding.