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Tag: congressional pay

  • These 2 Fort Worth area congressmen pause their paychecks during shutdown

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    The United States Capitol at night in Washington, D.C., on April 18, 2017.

    The United States Capitol at night in Washington, D.C., on April 18, 2017.


    Clifford Oto

    USA TODAY Network

    U.S. Rep. Craig Goldman, a Fort Worth Republican, and U.S. Rep. Brandon Gill, a Flower Mound Republican, have asked that they not be paid during the duration of the government shutdown which began Oct. 1.

    Goldman made the request in an Oct. 6 letter to the House’s chief administrative officer, whose office handles pay for members of the U.S. House of Representatives. He requested his pay be “suspended and withheld until normal government operations are restored,” according to the letter shared by Goldman’s office. Goldman will not accept a paycheck during the shutdown, but he will receive benefits like health insurance. He will receive back pay once the shutdown ends, a spokesperson said.

    Gill has also sent a letter to the administrative office asking his pay be withheld, according to a statement to the Star-Telegram. A spokesperson for the North Texas congressman did not immediately return requests for a copy of the letter or questions about back pay and benefits.

    “I sent a letter to the Chief Administrative Officer requesting that my pay be withheld until the Democrats’ shutdown ends,” Gill said in an Oct. 6 statement. “I will continue to work tirelessly on behalf of Texas’s 26th District while they hold up government operations for partisan gain.”

    The shutdown comes as Senate lawmakers are at a partisan impasse over health care spending. While there have been close calls in recent years, the shutdown is the first since 2018, when the federal government closed for 34 days from Dec. 21 until Jan. 25, 2019.

    Some federal services, like the Postal Service, remain operational, but ahead of the looming shutdown, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that about 750,000 employees could be furrowed each day.

    It’s been widely accepted, including in recent Trump administration guidances, that furloughed employees are paid etroactively once the shutdown lifts, according to AXIOS. However the news site reports that a draft memo from the White House says furloughed federal works aren’t guaranteed back pay, which would mark a switch from those guidances.

    Members of Congress generally generally make $174,000 per year and are constitutionally required to be paid, even during a shutdown, according to the Congressional Budget Office, but some have lawmakers said they’re refusing their paychecks. Former U.S. Rep. Kay Granger, a Fort Worth Republican, and Rep. Ron Wright, an Arlington Republican, both had their paychecks deferred during the 2018-2019 shutdown.

    The Star-Telegram reached out to Tarrant County’s congressional delegation for comment on whether they are accepting paychecks during the shutdown.

    As of Tuesday afternoon, spokespersons for Rep. Beth Van Duyne, an Irving Republican, Rep. Jasmine Crockett, a Dallas Democrat, and Rep. Marc Veasey, a Fort Worth Democrat, had not returned requests for comment. A spokesperson for Rep. Jake Ellzey, a Waxahachie Republican, was not immediately available for comment. A spokesperson for Rep. Roger Williams, a Willow Park Republican, declined to comment.

    The Star-Telegram has also reached out to the Senate’s Disbursing Office and the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer in the House seeking information about which Tarrant County lawmakers have asked that their paychecks be withheld.

    U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, a Republican, has also asked his pay be withheld, according to an Oct. 1 post on X and an accompanying letter to the Senate’s financial clerk. He does get backpay after the shutdown ends and medical benefits, according to his office.

    “Due to Senator Schumer’s Shutdown over his deranged demand that we provide free healthcare for illegal aliens and that we reverse the Republican reforms blocking handouts to able-bodied adults who refuse to work, I have asked the Financial Clerk of the Senate to hold my salary,” Cruz said in the social media post.

    A spokesperson for U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, a Republican, didn’t immediately return a request for comment.

    As the shutdown continues, a Change.org petition opposing salaries and benefits for members of Congress during shutdowns has gained more than 115,000 signatures. The petition says members of congress should have their salaries and benefits stripped during the shutdown. Their salaries should also be permanately cut by 2% each day the shutdown lasts, the petition states.

    Eleanor Dearman

    Fort Worth Star-Telegram

    Eleanor (Elly) Dearman is a Texas politics and government reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. She’s based in Austin, covering the Legislature and its impact on North Texas. She grew up in Denton and has been a reporter for more than six years.
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    Eleanor Dearman

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  • These North Carolina members of Congress want their pay withheld during shutdown

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    President Donald Trump endorsed Greg Murphy during his 2019 special election and called him to the stage during his July 17, 2019 rally in Greenville. Murphy won the race and now represents Eastern North Carolina in the U.S. House of Representatives.

    President Donald Trump endorsed Greg Murphy during his 2019 special election and called him to the stage during his July 17, 2019 rally in Greenville. Murphy won the race and now represents Eastern North Carolina in the U.S. House of Representatives.


    TRAVIS LONG

    WASHINGTON

    Four of North Carolina’s 16 members of Congress requested their salaries be withheld while federal employees aren’t being paid during the government shutdown.

    Several laws, including the 27th Amendment, require members of Congress to continue to receive a paycheck, even during a government shutdown. But all around lawmakers are government workers being told they won’t receive their paycheck, whether they’re being told to stay home or continue working.

    Members of Congress do have options like declining and returning their pay, donating their salary to a charity or the Treasury, or requesting the House administrative office withhold their pay, though they would still be owed.

    The latter is what North Carolina’s four members chose to do.

    Democratic Reps. Don Davis and Valerie Foushee and Republicans Reps. Greg Murphy and Tim Moore sent letters to the House chief administrative officer making that request.

    Murphy, of Greenville, put his request in first, the morning the government shut down. He sent a letter reading: “Please withhold my net pay until the appropriations agreement has taken effect.”

    Davis, of Snow Hill, followed a few hours later, writing: “While the federal government remains shut down, I respectfully request that you withhold my pay as a member of Congress.”

    Davis’ chief of staff, Hannah Spengler, explained his reasoning in a written statement to McClatchy.

    “Congressman Davis has chosen to have his pay withheld during the shutdown, standing with federal workers and families facing uncertainty,” Spengler said.

    Foushee, of Hillsborough, gave a longer explanation of her decision in her letter.

    “Members of Congress should play by the same rules as the people they represent,” Foushee wrote. “Until Congress comes to a bipartisan resolution to this impasse, one that makes whole the people I represent in NC-04 and fully reopens the government, I firmly believe member pay should be withheld.”

    Moore, of Kings Mountain, sent a letter with a similar tenor, though he blamed the shutdown on Democrats.

    “It’s not right for members of Congress to receive pay while our troops go unpaid and hurricane recovery efforts in Western North Carolina are stalled,” Moore wrote in his letter.

    There is a bill, filed by Virginia Rep. Robert Wittman, before the current Congress that would prevent lawmakers from receiving pay if they fail to pass a budget. None of North Carolina’s members have co-sponsored the bill.

    Rep. Wiley Nickel, a Democrat from Cary, filed the same bill in 2023 before retiring from Congress, but it never made it to a vote.

    Danielle Battaglia

    McClatchy DC

    Danielle Battaglia is the D.C. correspondent for The News & Observer and The Charlotte Observer, leading coverage of North Carolina’s congressional delegation and elections. She also covers the White House. Her career has spanned three North Carolina newsrooms where she has covered crime, courts and local, state and national politics. She has won two McClatchy President’s awards and numerous national and state awards for her work.

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    Danielle Battaglia

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