Sponsors (15)
The bill seeks to increase accountability by withholding members' pay for debt‑limit breaches and shutdown days and clarifies who administers those rules, but limited timing, possible legal challenges, and added administrative costs may blunt deterrence and shift burdens to payroll offices and taxpayers.
Members of Congress will have pay withheld or reduced for days when the federal debt limit is exceeded or when a government shutdown occurs, creating a direct financial incentive for members to avoid debt‑limit impasses and shutdowns.
Withholding pay into escrow during the 119th Congress prevents immediate loss of pay while preserving the penalty mechanism and compliance with the 27th Amendment (remaining withheld funds can be released at the end of the Congress), reducing immediate legal/exposure risks.
The bill designates specific congressional payroll administrators (House CAO, Senate Secretary) and provides Treasury support for implementation, which should speed coordination, reduce errors or delays, and lower some administrative disputes and costs for taxpayers.
The penalty regime has a limited temporal scope and post‑election exemptions (e.g., many penalties only apply after November 2026 and some withheld pay may still be paid to members elected in November 2026), which reduces the law's immediate deterrent effect on shutdowns and debt‑limit behavior.
Implementing withholding, escrow accounting, and final disbursements increases administrative workload and costs for congressional payroll offices and the Treasury, and those costs ultimately fall on taxpayers and could delay accurate pay processing.
Withheld pay could be returned or become the subject of legal challenges, creating complexity, uncertainty, and potential litigation costs that may reduce accountability and impose additional burdens on courts and taxpayers.
Based on analysis of 5 sections of legislative text.
Member pay is reduced by one day’s pay for each 24‑hour period a debt‑limit breach or government shutdown lasts, with temporary escrow rules for the 119th Congress.
Introduced March 10, 2025 by Eugene Simon Vindman · Last progress March 10, 2025
Reduces each Member of Congress’s annual pay by one day’s pay for every 24‑hour period the federal government is unable to borrow because the public debt limit is reached or for every 24‑hour period there is a lapse in appropriations (a government shutdown). For the 119th Congress only, payroll administrators must withhold (place in escrow) the amounts tied to those days and release any remaining escrowed funds on the last day of the 119th Congress to comply with the Constitution; pay reductions take effect for days after the regularly scheduled November 2026 general election. The Treasury must assist House and Senate payroll offices to implement these rules.