No Pay for Congress During Default or Shutdown Act
Have a question about what this bill does? Ask in plain English; the answer is drawn from the bill's actual text and official record, and it'll tell you when something isn't in the text rather than guess.
No Pay for Congress During Default or Shutdown Act
This bill withholds or eliminates the pay of Members of Congress for any day that the public debt limit is reached or there is a government shutdown.
During the 118th Congress, any salary earned by Members during these events must be held in escrow and released on the last day of that Congress. For subsequent Congresses, a Member shall not be paid for any day that these events occur.
Referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Accountability, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
- Introduced in House Formatted Text PDF Formatted XML
Cite this page
U.S. Congress. (2026). H.R. 3538: No Pay for Congress During Default or Shutdown Act. 118th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/118-HR-3538/
"H.R. 3538: No Pay for Congress During Default or Shutdown Act." 118th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/118-HR-3538/.
H.R. 3538, 118th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/118-HR-3538/.
[H.R. 3538: No Pay for Congress During Default or Shutdown Act](https://openamerica.io/bill/118-HR-3538/)