One of the consequences of a government shutdown should be that those legislators responsible for the shutdown should not receive their regular pay. In my mind they are just as much part of the government as the hundreds of thousand government workers not receiving pay as well as millions of constituents who will soon face the reality that they must conduct everyday life without SNAP benefits.
National parks close, veterans’ services slow, and ordinary citizens are forced to shoulder the burden of political stalemate. Yet one group always seems immune to the pain they help create—members of Congress.
That reality has never sat well with the American people, and for good reason. If lawmakers’ inaction or stubbornness leads to a shutdown, they shouldn’t be rewarded with continued pay. The moral, practical, and symbolic reasons to deny Congress its pay during shutdowns are overwhelming.
First, there’s the basic principle of fairness. Federal employees—from park rangers to air traffic controllers—don’t have the luxury of collecting salaries during shutdowns, even though they have no power to end the impasse. It’s galling to see members of Congress, many of whom are millionaires, continue receiving their $174,000 annual salaries while workers earning a fraction of that are told to stay home. If Congress is responsible for the gridlock, its members should feel the same pressure to resolve it as the people they’re holding hostage to their political games.
I saw a TV clip of a congressman saying he couldn’t afford to delay or skip his pay. He felt bad for federal workers who were forced to go without pay, but he was not about to join them. After all, he said I have a mortgage and other expenses to pay. I simply thought, how clueless could this representative be? Isn’t that exactly what thousands of federal workers are facing?
Second, denying pay during shutdowns would create much-needed accountability. Too often, lawmakers treat shutdowns as political theater—an opportunity to grandstand, blame the other side, and rally their base. But if every day of gridlock meant lost income for them personally, incentives would shift. Suddenly, compromise wouldn’t seem like weakness; it would be fiscal survival. For all the speeches about fiscal responsibility, perhaps nothing would drive home the need for responsible governance more effectively than lawmakers feeling the consequences in their own wallets. I bet my measly salary that if lawmakers were docked pay, there would be no shutdown.
Third, continuing to pay Congress during shutdowns erodes public trust in government. Every shutdown is a reminder of Washington’s dysfunction, but the optics of elected officials collecting paychecks while essential workers go unpaid make it worse. Americans are already skeptical about whether their leaders understand the struggles of ordinary people. Watching politicians remain comfortable while others suffer deepens cynicism and disengagement. Restoring trust requires more than talk—it requires sacrifice and solidarity.
Some defenders of congressional pay during shutdowns (I can’t imagine who would defend such a blatant disregard of public trust) argue that the Constitution mandates it. They point to the 27th Amendment, which prevents changes to congressional compensation from taking effect until after the next election. While that’s true, the law doesn’t prevent Congress from voluntarily withholding or deferring its pay during a shutdown. Lawmakers could easily pass legislation that withholds pay until the government reopens—without technically changing their salary. What’s lacking isn’t legal authority, but political will.
If members of Congress truly believe in public service, they should lead by example. During shutdowns, they should forgo their pay voluntarily, and they should codify that standard into law for future sessions. Public service means sharing the hardships of the people you represent, not standing apart from them.
A government shutdown is a symptom of a deeper disease—polarization, dysfunction, and a lack of accountability. Ending congressional pay during shutdowns won’t fix those problems overnight, but it’s a start. It’s a way to realign incentives, restore fairness, and remind lawmakers that their first duty is to the nation, not to their own comfort.
If Congress can’t keep the lights on, it shouldn’t keep collecting a paycheck. It’s that simple.
