More than two weeks into the federal government shutdown, some members of Utah’s federal delegation say it’s inappropriate that federal lawmakers are still being paid while other federal employees go without a paycheck.
“It doesn’t make any sense in the world why members of Congress are the only federal employees that really get consistently paid right now,” Rep. Blake Moore, a Republican who represents Utah’s 1st Congressional District, told reporters Tuesday. “That’s always something that you would think [would] change.”
Another Utah representative, 3rd Congressional District Rep. Mike Kennedy, has introduced a bill to do just that. The bill, HR5637, known as the “No Work, No Pay Act of 2025,” would prohibit paying members of Congress during a government shutdown.
The bill directs the payroll administrator for both chambers of Congress to “exclude from the payments … the compensation of each Member of Congress who serves in that House of Congress” a day’s pay for each day the government is shut down. It also directs the Secretary of the Treasury to assist the administrator in withholding the compensation as needed.
Kennedy’s proposal awaits consideration by the House Administration Oversight and Government Reform Committee as the government shutdown enters its third week.
At the heart of the government closure is a conflict over health care, as Democrats demand Republicans restore health care funding cut earlier this year as part of the President Donald Trump-backed “Big Beautiful Bill” and that enhanced premium tax credits are extended so millions of Americans relying on the credits can continue to afford Affordable Care Act coverage.
Some Republicans have expressed openness to discussing extending the ACA credits, but not as part of an agreement to reopen the government.
(Haiyun Jiang | The New York Times) House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks at a weekly news conference with House Republican leadership on Capitol Hill in Washington, on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. From left: Reps. Blake Moore, R-Utah, Johnson, Steve Scalise, R-La.
Republican senators need at least seven Democrats to cross the aisle to meet the chamber’s 60-vote threshold and pass a funding bill to reopen the government.
While the fight drags on, thousands of federal workers have been furloughed, laid off or forced to report to work without pay.
Moore said Tuesday that it was his understanding that active duty military members would still be paid, though he’s concerned about the “logistical challenges.”
Hundreds of other civilian military employees in Utah, he told The Salt Lake Tribune last week and confirmed on Tuesday, were furloughed and will soon be asked to report back to work, though they will not receive a paycheck. Moore’s district includes part of Davis County, where Hill Air Force Base is located.
“I’m grateful that we’re able to find some reprieve for our active duty [members] and love that we’re prioritizing them, but there’s a lot that could be potentially very dangerous,” Moore said, noting that “already overworked” air traffic controllers, in particular, are working for free during the shutdown while doing a “high, high, intense job.”
At a news conference earlier this month on the first day of the government shutdown, Kennedy discussed his “No Work, No Pay” proposal and said, “If we’re not going to pass a budget, we’re not going to fund the government, we aren’t going to get paid either. I just think that that’s totally appropriate.”
The standard salary for most members of Congress is $174,000 annually, though some members of leadership make more. If Kennedy’s bill were already law, lawmakers would have lost about $6,700 – before taxes – over the course of the ongoing shutdown so far, based on splitting their salary into weekly pay.
“Congressmen are not going to be paid for the work that they’re not doing,” Kennedy said. “If my bill passes, that’s [the impact it] would have.”
Kennedy is not the first member of Congress to make such a proposal. In 2023, South Carolina Republican Rep. Ralph Norman proposed a constitutional amendment that would prevent federal lawmakers from being paid during a government shutdown. That amendment was referred to the House Judiciary Committee but failed to gain traction.
Moore said he has also heard other ideas for holding members of Congress personally accountable for shutdowns, including banning lawmakers from leaving Washington until they agree on a funding bill.
“Those types of things [are] very good levers that I think are very sensible and would definitely support,” he said Tuesday.
Moore also said he would support another idea Kennedy has floated in recent weeks: Banning government shutdowns altogether.
“If we can’t come to an agreement, it’s an automatic that we just have continued resolution,” he said earlier this month. “I’m supportive of taking this weapon off the table that both sides seem to be willing to use, so that we, the American people, are not held hostage as we try to get the government funded through a regular order budget.”
Kennedy has not introduced an official bill proposing the ban, but Moore said Tuesday that such a proposal “makes total sense.”