Members of the US Senate will be paid on Friday. But if the shutdown is still going then, their employees won’t. The next scheduled paychecks can’t be cut because they cover a two-week period for which the government has no funding.
In a memorandum to Senate staffers that was first reported by Politico, the chamber’s financial clerk, Christopher J. Doby, writes that he has “no authority to pay salaries until new spending is approved.” Each individual senator has the authority to furlough his or her employees, whose salaries can range from around $30,000 for an entry-level clerk to $170,000 for a chief of staff or top policy adviser.
While some senators have pledged to “donate” their salaries as long as the shutdown lasts, the Constitution requires that they be paid regardless of the government’s budget. Most senators earn $174,000 per year, while party leaders get $193,400.
And though Doby tells Senate staffers that they will still receive their health insurance benefits (during, of all things, a shutdown caused by one party’s opposition to a health care reform law), other details of his memo suggest some employees could be facing some hardships. Payments on student loans and other obligations like mortgages and car payments will not be transmitted, forcing affected staffers to “make alternate payment arrangments.”
Those payments will be made, and all Senate staffers—about 5,000 total—will get the money they’re owed if the Senate passes a back-pay act previously adopted by the House. That bill passed the house unanimously, but some Senate Republicans have hesitated about voting on it.
Benjamin Freed joined Washingtonian in August 2013 and covers politics, business, and media. He was previously the editor of DCist and has also written for Washington City Paper, the New York Times, the New Republic, Slate, and BuzzFeed. He lives in Adams Morgan.
No Paychecks for Senate Staffers if Shutdown Continues
Senators will get paid regardless of the government's operating status, but their employees who have been working through the shutdown won't.
Benjamin Freed joined Washingtonian in August 2013 and covers politics, business, and media. He was previously the editor of DCist and has also written for Washington City Paper, the New York Times, the New Republic, Slate, and BuzzFeed. He lives in Adams Morgan.
Most Popular in News & Politics
Washington DC’s 500 Most Influential People of 2025
Rock Creek Isn’t Safe to Swim In. RFK Jr. Did It Anyway.
Jeanine Pirro: 5 Things to Know About the Fox News Host Trump Picked to Be DC’s Top Prosecutor
Trump Fires Librarian of Congress, Fox News Host to Be Next Top DC Prosecutor, Possibly Rabid Actual Fox Terrorizes Arlington
Humorless Scolds Fret About Trump’s Free Plane From Qatar, RFK Jr. Swam in Rock Creek, and We’ve Got 20 New Restaurants for You to Get Excited About
Washingtonian Magazine
May Issue: 52 Perfect Saturdays
View IssueSubscribe
Follow Us on Social
Follow Us on Social
Related
DC Might Be Getting a Watergate Museum
DC-Area Universities Are Offering Trump Classes This Fall
Viral DC-Area Food Truck Flavor Hive Has It in the Bag
Slugging Makes a Comeback for DC Area Commuters
More from News & Politics
Federal Agents Arrest 189 in DC Immigration Crackdown
Five New Galleries Are Opening at DC’s National Air and Space Museum in July
DOGE’s Geniuses Are Bad at Math, Ed Martin’s New Job Is to “Shame” People, and the Commanders Will Play in Spain
A New Book About Joe Biden Has Washington Chattering, the Library Wars Continue, and the Wizards Lost Out in the Draft
Meet the Duck Whisperer of DC
Rock Creek Isn’t Safe to Swim In. RFK Jr. Did It Anyway.
Humorless Scolds Fret About Trump’s Free Plane From Qatar, RFK Jr. Swam in Rock Creek, and We’ve Got 20 New Restaurants for You to Get Excited About
This Pop-Up Museum Is All About the Teenage Experience