House Bill to Slash Lawmaker Pay During Shutdown Inches Forward

Legislation that would block lawmakers from being paid for work during government shutdowns advanced out of a key House panel, teeing up possible full-chamber action as the current partial funding lapse drags on for more than a month.

The House Administration Committee approved H.R. 5891, led by Chairman Bryan Steil (R-Wis.), on a bipartisan 9-0 vote during a markup Wednesday. The hot-button issue has faced political and constitutional snarls before, because the Constitution mandates members of Congress be paid.

The Article I language has meant lawmakers receive paychecks even during funding lapses like last year’s record 43-day shutdown, when Capitol Hill staffers had to work without pay. Many members and senators opted to publicly forgo their paychecks, but because the Treasury was still required to pay them, they either donated the checks or directed them to be paid to separate, unaccessed accounts.

“While federal workers are required to show up to work and not get paid, members of Congress are, under current law, receiving their paycheck,” Steil said, referencing unpaid Transportation Security Administration workers. The Department of Homeland Security has been shut down for more than four weeks amid partisan fights about the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement policy.

The Steil bill would reduce members’ annual pay if a government shutdown occurs during the year. For each day there’s a lapse in appropriations for one or more agencies, the legislation would direct the House and Senate payroll administrators to cut each lawmaker’s salary by one day’s worth of annual pay.

The House Administration Committee had previously planned to consider an earlier draft of the legislation, but punted its markup amid concerns about the constitutionality of the language.

Republicans and Democrats on the panel said they disagree about which party is at fault for the ongoing shutdown, but believe the measure is a way to improve Americans’ trust in Congress. Still, members sparred at Wednesday’s markup over why DHS remains unfunded after more than a month. Democrats plan to open a discharge petition, which would force a vote to fund DHS’ non-immigration agencies, including TSA.

Rep. Joe Morelle (N.Y.), the top Democrat on the panel, said he supports the bill but does “worry a little bit” that a president in the future could use lawmakers’ paychecks as leverage in their funding negotiations. “I would hope that wouldn’t happen,” Morelle said, but “some things that I thought would never happen in America are happening.”

The advancement of the lawmaker shutdown pay bill comes amid a heightened push for anti-corruption measures in Congress. Members of both parties are seeking to ban lawmakers from trading stocks while in office, but dueling measures have stalled on disagreements over issues like whether to include a White House stock ban Democrats want.