StalledNext up: A senate committeeNo action in 8 months
This bill is currently in the early stages of the legislative process after being sent to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs for review. It is considered active, but no further meetings or votes have been scheduled at this time. There is no companion bill currently associated with this proposal.
While this idea is very popular with voters, lawmakers rarely vote to cut their own pay, and similar bills have failed to pass for decades.
Key Points
This bill stops Members of Congress from getting paid for every day the government is shut down. A shutdown happens when Congress fails to pass a budget and federal agencies have to close.
Right now, lawmakers continue to receive their salaries even when other federal workers are sent home without pay. This plan aims to hold politicians accountable for failing to do their jobs and keep the government running.
Because the Constitution says lawmakers cannot change their own pay until after an election, the bill works in two steps. For now, pay would be held in a special account and given back later. After the 2026 election, the pay would be lost forever for any days the government is closed.
The bill requires the Secretary of the Treasury and payroll officers in the House and Senate to work together to calculate exactly how much money to take out of each lawmaker's paycheck based on the length of the shutdown.
Impact Analysis
Govbase has not yet run an impact analysis on this legislation.
Milestones
2 milestones2 actions
Oct 27, 2025Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
Sent to a congressional committee for expert review. The committee decides whether this bill moves forward.
Oct 27, 2025
Introduced in Senate
The bill was officially filed and given a number. It now enters the legislative queue.
