To provide that Members of Congress may not receive pay after October 1 of any fiscal year in which Congress has not approved a concurrent resolution on the budget and passed the regular appropriations bills.
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
No timeline data available
Summary
What This Bill Does
This bill, known as the "No Budget, No Pay Act," stops paying Members of Congress if they fail to pass a budget resolution and all regular appropriations bills by October 1 of each fiscal year. The pay is permanently forfeited—members cannot receive back pay for the non-compliance period.
Who Benefits and How
- Taxpayers save money during periods when Congress fails to complete its budgeting work.
- Federal employees and contractors may benefit if the financial pressure on Congress reduces the frequency of government shutdowns and continuing resolutions.
- Government accountability advocates see enforcement of congressional responsibility for completing the budget process on time.
Who Bears the Burden and How
- Members of Congress lose their salaries during any period after October 1 when the budget and appropriations are not complete.
- The pay loss is permanent—members cannot receive back pay for the non-compliance period at any later date.
Key Provisions
- Requires both chambers to approve a concurrent budget resolution and pass all regular appropriations bills by October 1
- Withholds pay from all Members of Congress during any period of non-compliance
- Budget and Appropriations Committee chairs in each chamber determine whether Congress is in compliance
- Lost pay during non-compliance periods cannot be recovered later
- Takes effect on September 29, 2025
Evidence Chain:
This summary is derived from the structured analysis below. See "Detailed Analysis" for per-title beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
Primary Purpose
Withholds pay from Members of Congress if Congress fails to approve a budget resolution and pass all regular appropriations bills by October 1 of each fiscal year.
Policy Domains
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "cao_house"
- → Chief Administrative Officer of the House of Representatives
- "secretary_of_senate"
- → Secretary of the Senate
- "budget_appropriations_chairs"
- → Chairs of the Budget and Appropriations Committees in both chambers
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
As defined in 5 U.S.C. 2106, excluding the Vice President
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