Withhold Member Pay During Shutdowns

Summary#

This bill requires the payroll offices for each House of Congress to withhold members' pay for each 24-hour day that a "Government shutdown" is in effect. A "Government shutdown" is defined as a lapse in appropriations for one or more Federal agencies or departments. For pay periods that occur after the regularly scheduled general election in November 2026, the withholding reduces the pay actually paid to Members by an amount equal to one day's pay times the number of shutdown days in the pay period. For shutdown days that occur before that effective date, the bill requires payroll offices to withhold the same amounts and deposit them into an escrow account. Amounts in escrow must be released on the pay reduction effective date so the change does not vary compensation in a way the bill says might conflict with the 27th Amendment. The bill names the Secretary of the Senate and the Chief Administrative Officer of the House (or their designees) as the payroll administrators, and it directs the Secretary of the Treasury to help those payroll administrators carry out the withholding and escrow rules.

What it means for you#

  • If you are a Member of Congress: pay will be reduced for days during a pay period when a shutdown is in effect after the November 2026 effective date. For shutdown days before that date, equivalent amounts will be withheld and held in escrow until the effective date.
  • If you are a payroll administrator for a House of Congress: you must implement the withholding and, before the effective date, create and manage escrow deposits and later release them as directed.
  • If you are not a Member of Congress: the bill text does not describe any direct changes to other federal pay, benefits, or services. No publicly available information on other effects.

Expenses#

No publicly available information on budgetary costs, savings, or broader fiscal impacts is included in the bill text. The bill does require withholding of pay and use of escrow accounts for withheld amounts before the November 2026 effective date. The Secretary of the Treasury is directed to provide assistance to payroll administrators, but the bill does not specify funding or cost estimates for that assistance.

Proponents' View#

No publicly available information.

Opponents' View#

No publicly available information.