Senators may soon discover what millions of Americans already know: government shutdowns are not exactly a fun little Washington strategy game. In a rare moment of bipartisan agreement, the Senate unanimously passed a resolution that would stop senators from receiving pay during future government shutdowns, forcing lawmakers to finally feel at least a fraction of the pain federal workers and taxpayers endure every time Congress turns basic budgeting into a hostage negotiation.
The measure was pushed by Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana, who argued that lawmakers should not continue collecting paychecks while federal employees are left hanging without income. Honestly, it is difficult to believe this was not already the rule.
“Last October, we shut down the government for 43 days. That is the longest shutdown in history,” Kennedy said on the Senate floor. “And we had FBI agents, national park rangers, CDC scientists, our staff here in Congress, nobody was getting paid.”
Kennedy also pointed to another shutdown just months later involving the Department of Homeland Security that lasted 76 days. “We ought to hide our heads in a bag,” he added. “It’s got to stop.”
He is not wrong.
For years, government shutdowns were treated as political nuclear options that leaders from both parties tried desperately to avoid. Recently, however, Washington has developed an alarming habit of stumbling into shutdown fights like teenagers setting fireworks off in a garage. The consequences, meanwhile, hit ordinary workers far harder than the politicians responsible for the chaos.
During the recent shutdowns, Transportation Security Administration workers went unpaid while still reporting to airports across the country. Travelers experienced delays, staffing shortages, and mounting frustration while Congress continued its usual cable-news finger-pointing routine.
Under Kennedy’s resolution, senators’ salaries would be placed into escrow during any future shutdown. In other words, lawmakers would not permanently lose the money, but they would not receive paychecks until the government reopened. A standard senator currently earns $174,000 annually, while Senate leadership positions earn more than $193,000.
Naturally, the resolution passed with broad bipartisan support because voting against it would have produced approximately five million campaign ads by sunset.
Still, some Republicans remain skeptical about whether Senate Democrats, led by Chuck Schumer, will truly abandon shutdown tactics in future political fights. Even though Schumer supported the measure, many conservatives believe Democrats have become increasingly comfortable using shutdown threats as leverage.
Critics also noticed an important detail buried inside the legislation: the policy does not take effect until after the next election cycle. So despite all the dramatic speeches about “shared sacrifice,” lawmakers conveniently avoided risking their own paychecks before voters head to the polls. Washington always seems to find a way to protect itself eventually.
Other senators are also proposing broader reforms. Sen. Ron Johnson introduced legislation that would guarantee federal workers are paid during shutdowns, while Sen. James Lankford proposed automatically extending funding for short periods to prevent shutdowns altogether.
That may ultimately be the bigger issue. Americans are tired of watching Congress repeatedly manufacture avoidable crises while expecting the public to absorb the consequences. If lawmakers finally have some skin in the game financially, perhaps these shutdown stunts will suddenly seem a lot less appealing.