No Pay for Congress During Default or Shutdown Act
Key claim: The No Pay for Congress During Default or Shutdown Act would withhold or eliminate Members of Congress pay on any day the public debt limit is reached or a government shutdown occurs.
Abstract
(HR1973 · 119th Congress) No Pay for Congress During Default or Shutdown Act This bill withholds or eliminates the pay of Members of Congress for any day that the public debt limit is reached or there is a government shutdown. During the 119th Congress, any salary earned by Members during these events must be held in escrow and released on the last day of that Congress. For subsequent Congresses, a Member shall not be paid for any day that these events occur. (Some exceptions apply.) Latest action (2025-03-10): Referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Why this matters
The proposal targets compensation for Members of Congress rather than federal employees or private-sector workers, so it sits outside the core labor & employment scope of this area (OPM/MSPB procedures, wage law, workplace safety, classification). It is an incremental variant of long-running 27th Amendment-adjacent pay-withholding proposals and introduces no new mechanism affecting worker pay, benefits, or workplace rules. No existing page in this area is a good fit, and creating a dedicated page is not warranted at introduced-only status with novelty 2.