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SRES-526Senate2025-12-17Congress

A resolution withholding the pay of Senators if a Government shutdown occurs.

YourVoice.Now Summary

Transparency & Accountability

Starting in late 2026, Senators stop getting paid during a shutdown — but they get it all back.

Transparency & Accountability

Senators' pay held during a shutdown — starting after November 2026

A shutdown here counts even if just one agency runs out of money. The Secretary of the Senate then holds the pay of each Senator.

Money Senators give up — withheld pay is paid in full later

Senators do not lose this money. Once a shutdown ends, the Secretary of the Senate must pay out everything held as soon as it can.

More about this bill

Nothing about your own money or daily life would change here. This Senate rule is about Senators' paychecks. When federal funding runs out, the Secretary of the Senate must hold the pay each Senator would otherwise get. Even a funding lapse at one federal agency counts. The pay is held, not lost. As soon as a shutdown ends, Senators get back every dollar that was held. Senators are paid about $174,000 a year today, so a long shutdown could hold back thousands of dollars. The rule covers Senators only, not House members or federal workers. It starts the day after the November 2026 general election. That timing matches a constitutional rule: pay changes for members of Congress wait until after an election. The Senate agreed to the resolution on May 14, 2026.

Congressional Summary

Congress's official summary of this bill still describes an earlier version of the text, so we have left it out here. You can read it on Congress.gov.

Congress.gov →

Legislative Subjects

Congressional operations and organizationGovernment employee pay, benefits, personnel managementMembers of CongressSenate

Details

Congress
119th
Chamber
Senate
Status
summarized
Action
Reported to Senate
Action Date
2025-12-17
Date Added
2026-07-29
Source
Congress.gov →

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