Government Shutdown Salary Suspension Act
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Government Shutdown Salary Suspension Act withholds top elected officials' pay during shutdowns. For Members of Congress in the 119th Congress, each House payroll administrator must deposit in escrow the daily salary amount attributable to any 24-hour shutdown period in a pay period. The money is released only after the shutdown ends or, to address the Twenty-Seventh Amendment, on the last day of the 119th Congress. The same structure applies to the President and Vice President: OPM must deposit covered salary amounts in escrow during a shutdown and release them when the shutdown ends or on the last day of the covered term. The bill does not cancel pay permanently, but it delays access to salary during appropriations lapses.
Who Benefits and How
Government accountability advocates benefit because shutdowns would immediately delay salary access for Members of Congress and top executive officials. Federal taxpayers benefit from a temporary escrow mechanism that prevents immediate salary outlays during the lapse period. House payroll administrators benefit from a clear statutory formula for calculating Member salary escrow. OPM payroll staff benefit from explicit authority to apply the same escrow rule to the President and Vice President.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Members of Congress bear delayed access to salary for every 24-hour shutdown period in the 119th Congress. The President and Vice President bear delayed salary access during shutdown periods in their terms. House and Senate payroll administrators must calculate daily rates, escrow amounts, withholding, and release dates. OPM payroll staff must administer salary escrow for the President and Vice President.
Key Provisions
- Requires House and Senate payroll administrators to escrow Member salary attributable to shutdown days.
- Releases Member salary only after the shutdown ends or on the last day of the 119th Congress.
- Requires OPM to escrow President and Vice President salary attributable to shutdown days.
- Releases executive salary after the shutdown ends or on the last day of the relevant term.
- Preserves withholding and remittance rules while delaying access to salary.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Places salaries of Members of Congress, the President, and the Vice President in escrow during government shutdown periods, with release only after the shutdown ends or the constitutional pay period expires.
Key Policy Areas
Congress, Executive Branch, Government Shutdowns
Primary Purpose
Places salaries of Members of Congress, the President, and the Vice President in escrow during government shutdown periods, with release only after the shutdown ends or the constitutional pay period expires.
Policy Domains
Resolution provisions
Identified Gains
- Government accountability advocates
- Federal taxpayers
- House payroll administrators
- OPM payroll staff
Identified Costs
- Members of Congress
- President of the United States
- Vice President of the United States
- Senate payroll administrators
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeMs. Wilson of Florida (for herself and Mr. Garamendi) introduced …
Referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and …
Introduced in House
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
House payroll administrators, Members of Congress, Senate payroll administrators
OPM payroll staff, President of the United States, Vice President of the United States
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology