Congress Would Still Get Paid If Government Shuts Down

Guess who still gets paid if the government shuts down? Surprise, surprise: members of Congress. A shutdown would halt pay for thousands of government workers, including congressional staff, Politico reports.

But congressmen, the president, and uniformed military personnel don’t miss a paycheck. Congressmen earn $174,000 a year.

Even though congressional staffers wouldn’t get paid promptly, members of Congress can still make “essential” employees report to work. Not everyone is happy about that arrangement.

“When you have people living paycheck to paycheck, this is going to be a hardship. This is a crisis for an office,” Congressional Management Foundation CEO Brad Fitch, who worked as a Senate press secretary during the 1995 government closures, tells Politico. “There will not be consistency across the board, especially in the Senate, because the office sizes vary so greatly.”