Yes, members of Congress do get paid during a government shutdown. Their salaries come from a permanent appropriation in the U.S. Treasury, so the money is available automatically whether or not the annual spending bills have passed. Rank-and-file House and Senate members earn $174,000 per year, a figure frozen since 2009, while most federal workers see their paychecks delayed until funding is restored.
Why the Paychecks Keep Coming
A shutdown happens when Congress fails to pass the annual spending bills that fund federal agencies. When that funding lapses, the agencies covered by those bills lose their legal authority to spend. Congressional salaries sit outside that system. They are classified as a permanent appropriation, which means the Treasury releases the money without any new legislation each year.
The arrangement traces back to the Constitution. Article I, Section 6 provides that senators and representatives “shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States.”1Congress.gov. Overview of the Twenty-Seventh Amendment, Congressional Compensation Congress sets the rate by statute, and the Treasury pays it. Because the pay is not part of the annual appropriations process, a lapse in discretionary funding never reaches it.
Why Congress Can’t Quickly Cut Its Own Pay
Even if a sitting Congress wanted to suspend its pay during a shutdown, the 27th Amendment would block the change from taking effect. It reads: “No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened.”1Congress.gov. Overview of the Twenty-Seventh Amendment, Congressional Compensation Any bill that raises or lowers congressional pay has to wait until after the next House election cycle.
The amendment was written to stop lawmakers from voting themselves a quick raise, but it works the same way in reverse. No shutdown has ever lasted through a full election cycle, so the amendment effectively guarantees that members will keep receiving paychecks even when much of the government has gone dark. Some members choose to donate their shutdown pay to charity or return it to the Treasury as a public gesture, but the checks still have to be issued in the first place.
How This Differs From Federal Employees
The contrast with ordinary federal workers is sharp. Under the Antideficiency Act, agencies cannot spend money they haven’t been appropriated, so they split their workforce in two when funding lapses.2U.S. Government Accountability Office. Antideficiency Act Non-essential workers are furloughed and sent home without pay. “Excepted” workers, whose duties involve protecting life, safety, or property, have to keep showing up, but their paychecks are frozen too until Congress acts.3The White House. Frequently Asked Questions During a Lapse in Appropriations
Before 2019, there was no legal guarantee that furloughed workers would ever be made whole. Congress had passed retroactive pay bills after past shutdowns, but each one was a separate decision. The Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019 changed that, requiring that affected federal employees receive back pay at their standard rate “at the earliest date possible after the lapse in appropriations ends.”4Congress.gov. Public Law 116-1 – Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019 The law covers both furloughed workers and excepted employees who worked through the shutdown without pay. The back pay is guaranteed, but the delay is not erased. Federal employees can go weeks without a paycheck while members of Congress never miss one.
What About Congressional Staff
The protection that shields members does not extend to the people who work for them. Aides, committee staff, and other legislative branch employees are funded through annual legislative branch appropriations bills. When those bills lapse, staffers face the same furlough-or-work-without-pay situation as executive branch employees. Some staff considered essential to core congressional functions may be required to keep working, but their paychecks are delayed.
The Government Employee Fair Treatment Act applies broadly to employees of the United States Government, which includes legislative branch staff, so retroactive pay is now guaranteed on the same terms.4Congress.gov. Public Law 116-1 – Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019 The financial strain during the shutdown itself, though, falls on staff in a way it never falls on the members who employ them.