The first government shutdown since December 2018 is now in effect, meaning hundreds of thousands of employees are furloughed, and many more "essential" workers must clock in without pay. (The New York Times has a detailed visual breakdown here.) One group that will keep getting paid if the shutdown drags on? Congress. That's thanks to the Constitution, which locks in congressional salaries—congressmen are currently paid $174,000, more if they're in leadership—and keeps the money coming even if the rest of government grinds to a halt.
Not everyone on Capitol Hill is comfortable with that setup. Some lawmakers, like Democratic Sen. Andy Kim and GOP Reps. Kat Cammack and Rob Bresnahan, have publicly asked that their pay be withheld during the shutdown. But NBC News reports not everyone is following their lead. "I'm not wealthy, and I have three kids. I would basically be missing, you know, mortgage payments, rent payments, child support," Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego told the network. The president gets paid as well during a shutdown, though President Trump donated his salary during his first term and says he intends to do so again this time around.
Business Insider notes that any furloughed federal workers will be compensated in the end. In the wake of the last government shutdown, Congress in 2019 passed the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act, which guarantees that such workers will get retroactive pay.
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