So Friday night as Congress played politics and as the looming deadline for a government shutdown was approaching I was wondering one thing and one thing only, "Does Congress still get paid if a shutdown happens?" And to answer my own question, yes they do. Now I found it inconceivable that they would get paid while hundreds of thousands of federal employees wouldn't get a dime, and in reality, this is true. Article I, Section 6 of the Constitution allows for lawmakers to still receive their salaries during a government shutdown, no matter how long it lasts. I was appalled. So, in other words, the individuals we put in place to govern can't even reach an agreement so that they could continue to fund the government and federal workers can continue to get paid, but they wouldn't miss their paychecks, again politics as usual or so I thought.
I decided to do a little research on this issue and this is what I found. On Friday afternoon Democrats proposed a bill that would eliminate pay for lawmakers in the event of a government shutdown. Senator Debbie Stabenow of Michigan said in a statement, "It’s wrong that members of Congress would still get paid in the event of a shutdown while paychecks for members of our military could be disrupted," "“This bill ensures members of Congress will not get paid and another bill I have cosponsored makes sure our troops will" (The Washington Times, 2018). Some Congressmen even took to Twitter to exclaim that they would relinquish their paychecks. Sounds promising but seems to me too little too late! Let's see what happens! Only time will tell if their intentions are honest.
Here's a table to show what workers are sent home:
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/jan/20/members-congress-still-get-paychecks-during-govern/