Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) says he will not give up his his six-figure congressional salary during the recent government shutdown, despite hundreds of thousands — including members of his own staff — furloughed.
While members of Congress technically get paid during government shutdowns, it’s Gallego’s response that has many lawmakers on both sides of the aisle scratching their heads.
Gallego told NBC News that he won’t forgo his $174,000 congressional salary, which lawmakers continue to collect during shutdowns under Article I, Section 6 of the Constitution.
The Constitution’s Article 1, Section 6 states that “Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States.”
In other words, members of Congress get paid regardless of whether other parts of the government are funded.
And according to Gallego, he needs every penny of his salary.
“I’m not wealthy and I have three kids. I would basically be missing, you know, mortgage payments, rent payments, child support,” Gallego told NBC News.
“So it’s not feasible, not gonna happen.”
Roughly 750,000 employees will be furloughed during the shutdown, according to the Congressional Budget Office — including Gallego’s own staff.
Congressional staffers are not paid during the funding lapse, though they will receive back pay once the government reopens.
However, Gallego appears to be in the minority as a growing list of lawmakers from both sides are now asking that their pay be withheld in solidarity with furloughed workers.
Republicans, including Reps. Kat Cammack of Florida, Chip Roy and Keith Self of Texas have all formally requested that their paychecks be withheld until the government reopens.
Cammack posted a formal letter of her request to have her pay withheld on X:
We will be voting shortly on the latest spending deal but before we do, I have submitted an official request asking for my paycheck to be withheld in the event of a government shutdown. If the troops don’t get paid, Members of Congress shouldn’t either. pic.twitter.com/9B2rbAGEVW
— Kat Cammack (@Kat_Cammack) December 20, 2024
“All members of Congress — including those most responsible for this shutdown (Senate Democrats) — should do the same,” Self wrote on X.
Some Democrats, including Sen. Andy Kim of New Jersey, have also joined in with the Republican colleagues.
“It’s wrong that the President and Members of Congress get paid during a government shutdown when our military and public servants don’t,” Kim said in a statement Tuesday.
“I will be refusing my own pay if we end up in a shutdown. Government leaders shouldn’t be playing with other people’s chips.”
Presidents also continue to receive their salary, which is set by law at $400,000 a year, during funding lapses.
But President Donald Trump has said he will donate his government salary during the shutdown, according to NBC News.
Democrats are refusing to approve government spending unless an extension of a pandemic-era Obamacare premium subsidy — projected to cost $350 billion over the next decade — is included in the bill.
This is behind Gallego’s rationale to not give up his salary, claiming that Republicans should have to give up their health care.
“By Republicans’ theory, all Republicans should give up their health care since they’re hellbent on cutting health care for millions of Americans. Senator Gallego, like nearly all Americans, relies on his salary to raise his kids, and won’t participate in this bad-faith Republican virtue-signaling,” a spokesperson for Gallego told the media.
“Instead, the GOP should come back to DC instead of fleeing to avoid voting on releasing the Epstein files and raising health care costs on millions of Americans. Anything else is a distraction.”