Guess Who’s Still Riding the Gravy Train During the ‘Government Shutdown’?

While the EBT serfs plan large-scale shoplifting raids on retail outlets once their benefits are suspended and air traffic control towers are set to go unmanned, Congress members will continue to collect their $174,000/year base salaries uninterrupted.

Via Constitution Center (emphasis added):

Over in the Legislative Branch, the support staff for Congress would be affected. “During a funding gap, pay for congressional employees would not be disbursed if there is no appropriation to fund legislative branch activities,” the CRS says. Staffers deemed critical would need to work because they are needed to “support Congress with its constitutional responsibilities or those necessary to protect life and property.”

But members of Congress will still get paychecks, under two parts of the Constitution. Article I, Section 6, says that congress members “shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States.” The 27th Amendment also forbids any change in the compensation rate for Congress during a current term.

Indeed, the shutdown fiasco appears to be nothing more than the next saga in the theatrical production that is national-level politics, albeit with slightly more immediate consequences for the peasants, in which politicians entirely disconnected from the struggles or dreams of ordinary people play power games with resources that they haven’t curated themselves.

Democratic Whip of the U.S. House of Representatives Katherine Clark:

Of course, there will be, you know, families that are going to suffer. We take that responsibility very seriously. But it is one of the few leverage times we have.

🚨 @WhipKClark, the number two House Democrat, on the Democrat Shutdown: "Of course there will be families that are going to suffer... but it is one of the few leverage times we have."

These people are SICK! pic.twitter.com/7MRHsmGMGx

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) October 22, 2025

Related: John Bolton Vows to Resurrect USAID Post-Trump

To his great credit, Rep. Eli Crane from the great state of Arizona has co-sponsored a Constitutional amendment — the only remedy since the clause allowing ongoing Congressional pay during a shutdown is baked into the Constitution itself — that would eliminate Congressional pay in the event of any government shutdown.

Via Rep. Eli Crane (emphasis added):

As many of you are aware, the federal government officially entered a shutdown yesterday. While the House of Representatives passed a funding extension through November 21, 2025, the measure still requires 60 votes in the U.S. Senate before heading to the President’s desk. 

Unfortunately, only two Democrats and one Independent currently support this effort, meaning the government will remain shut down until five more Democrats vote in favor of the bill.

In the meantime, Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ) has requested that his pay be withheld for the duration of the shutdown. He believes it is inappropriate to receive a salary while many Americans are furloughed or facing delayed paychecks.

Furthermore, Rep. Crane has cosponsored a constitutional amendment introduced by Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC), which would prohibit lawmakers from receiving pay during government shutdowns. It would also preclude Members of Congress from receiving any back pay afterward.

Two main caveats to an otherwise superb bill:

• This is mostly a rhetorical exercise, as it’s unlikely to pass
• It doesn’t address the elephant in the room, which makes the official Congressional salary look like a drop in the bucket: the rampant and endemic corruption in Congress that, per Open Secrets, enabled such a loathsome parasite as Nancy Pelosi to accrue hundreds of millions of dollars for herself during her career of “public service”