This op-ed by Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) first appeared in The Hill on January 15, 2026. 

Millions of Americans have yet to dig out of the holes they found themselves in after they missed paychecks and other federal benefits during the 43-day government shutdown last fall.

One bank issued more than $365 million in loans to keep federal workers afloat as they waited for the government to reopen. Many food shelves are still struggling to restock their depleted shelves. In total, the shutdown cost the American economy an estimated $15 billion per week in lost GDP.

Members of Congress, however, never felt an ounce of financial pain, as my Democratic colleagues voted more than a dozen times to keep the government shuttered. Our paychecks kept coming. Perhaps that is why some Democrats seem so open to the idea of forcing another shutdown on Jan. 30.

The fact that politicians can use other people’s paychecks as a political football without sacrificing their own salary makes most fair-minded Americans want to stick their heads in an oven. Most Americans believe what’s good for the goose is good for the gander. If federal workers aren’t getting paid, members of Congress shouldn’t get paid either.

During the October shutdown, I introduced two separate bills to prevent paychecks from flowing to members of Congress when the government is closed. The first bill would have withheld each senator’s pay for the duration of the government shutdown without the possibility of back pay.

Some of my Senate colleagues believed that my bill violated the 27th Amendment, which states, “No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened.”

So, I introduced a second bill that would have required the Senate secretary to place each member’s shutdown paychecks in an escrow account for safekeeping. Senators would have received their eventual back pay before a new Congress began in 2027 to address any constitutional concerns about reducing member pay.

Unfortunately, my Senate colleagues objected to this legislation, too, and the effort died when the government reopened — or at least that’s what some of my colleagues would have liked to see.

But like the Terminator, I keep coming back.

That’s why I’ve been working with the Senate Rules Committee since the government reopened to draft a resolution that will withhold member pay during future shutdowns. My resolution, which would take effect after the November 2026 elections, would require the secretary of the Senate to place each member’s paycheck in a vault during any government shutdown. If the government stays closed, so does that vault. Members can stop by and pick up their checks when the government reopens.

This policy is as much about fairness as it is about deterrence.

In 2013, President Obama signed the No Budget, No Pay Act into law, which pressured lawmakers to adopt a budget for fiscal 2014 by threatening to withhold their pay until their respective chambers passed a budget resolution.

At the time, lawmakers needed to get a budget passed by Apr. 15, 2013 to avoid missing a paycheck. And guess what: They passed a budget on time. Not only was this policy lawful, but it was also effective. 

I don’t judge my colleagues for objecting to this type of legislation. It’s tough missing a paycheck. But it was also tough for the American people to watch my colleagues vote 15 times in a row to keep the government closed.

I am proud that my resolution received unanimous, bipartisan support in the Senate Rules Committee. I hope the full Senate will join us in ensuring that politicians aren’t the only ones getting paid during a government shutdown.