ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The average salary for a member of Congress is $174,000 a year. The average salary for a federal TSA agent is $53,000 a year. Roughly 1.4 million federal workers have not been paid for at least six weeks during the shutdown.
Marie asks: “Why is Congress getting paid?”
Marie is one of many people who have asked why members of Congress get paid during a government shutdown, while millions of federal employees do not. News10NBC’s Emily Putnam looked into the constitutional article that ensures lawmakers still get a paycheck.
While some members of Congress have suggested they shouldn’t get paid during a shutdown, the U.S. Constitution ensures that they will. Article 1, Section 6 of the Constitution says: “The 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.”
Some New York lawmakers have refused to accept their pay during the shutdown. Senator Kirstin Gillibrand’s office confirmed with News10NBC that she has not accepted a paycheck since the government shut down. Last week, Republican Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana introduced a pair of bills that would either withhold or delay pay for members of Congress during a shutdown, an idea also floated in the past by Democrats.
The 27th Amendment also plays a big role here. It says no law, without an election, can change the pay of senators and representatives. In other words, any changes that are made to the salaries of Congress members will not take effect until the next election.
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