These 2 Fort Worth area congressmen pause their paychecks during shutdown

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.