GOP Sen. Kennedy to Introduce Bills to Withhold Pay from Lawmakers During Government ShutdownElizabeth Weibel 5 Nov 2025
Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) announced that he would be introducing two bills that would withhold paychecks from Congressional lawmakers during government shutdowns.
Kennedy plans to introduce two bills, one of which is called, “No Shutdown Paychecks to Politicians Act,” while the other is called the “Withhold Member Pay During Shutdowns Act,” Fox News reported. Kennedy explained to the outlet that his “bills ensure Congress feels the same pain as” people such as federal workers and air traffic controllers are feeling without being paid during the shutdown.
“I don’t see missing paychecks or empty dinner plates as leverage or bargaining chips,” Kennedy pointed out. “My bills ensure Congress feels the same pain as the folks we’re failing to pay — our troops, air traffic controllers, and federal workers. If we can’t do our jobs and fund the government, we don’t deserve a paycheck — plain and simple.”
Under Kennedy’s first bill, the “No Shutdown Paychecks to Politicians Act,” for each day of a government shutdown, lawmakers would “go without pay.” Under Kennedy’s second bill, the “Withhold Member Pay During Shutdowns Act,” the bill would “sidestep the 27th Amendment” by placing lawmakers’ paychecks “in escrow until after the November 2026 elections.”
However, under Article 1, Section 6 of the U.S. Constitution, “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.”
Article 1, Section 6 of the U.S. Constitution states:
The 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. They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.
The 27th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution also states:
No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened.
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https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2025/11/05/gop-sen-kennedy-to-introduce-bills-to-withhold-pay-from-lawmakers-during-government-shutdown/
