UPDATE: Senate Officially BARS Members from Receiving Paychecks During Govt Shutdowns

This might be the best thing the Senate has gotten done for quite some time.

Yesterday, the Senate unanimously advanced a resolution introduced by Sen. Kennedy that would prevent themselves from getting paid during government shutdowns.

You know, just like every other federal worker.

If you missed it, here’s our original report on that:

Senate UNANIMOUSLY Advances Resolution to Withhold Lawmakers’ Pay During Government Shutdowns

Now, we have an update.

As expected, the resolution was swiftly passed by the Senate in another unanimous vote today!

Check it out:

🚨 JUST IN: US Senate unanimously BANS all senators from getting a single paycheck if the federal government is shutdown, filed by Sen. Kennedy

FINALLY! This should've already been the case 👏🏻

Don't give them a DIME if they defund TSA and other crucial agencies.

This is called… pic.twitter.com/WAuDOpvbrs

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) May 14, 2026

🚨JUST IN🚨

The Senate upper chamber voted UNANIMOUSLY on a resolution that would prevent Senators from being paid during a shutdown.

Senators will not get paid during any future shutdowns.

This is something Senator John Kennedy has been pushing for.

— Breanna Morello (@BreannaMorello) May 14, 2026

This is long overdue!

Hopefully, this will make Democrats think twice before shutting down the government again.

CBS News reported further:

Led by GOP Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana, the resolution directs the secretary of the Senate to withhold pay from senators during a lapse in appropriations for one or more federal agencies or departments. The payments would be released after the shutdown comes to an end.

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The resolution was adopted by unanimous consent Thursday. The chamber voted 99-0 to advance the measure earlier this week.

Kennedy called it "shared sacrifice," pointing to how federal employees generally go without pay during a shutdown.

Last year, the government was shut down for 43 days as Democrats in Congress protested the expiration of healthcare subsidies. Months later, the Department of Homeland Security shut down amid an impasse in Congress over reforms for its immigration enforcement agencies. That shutdown ended late last month after 76 days.

"We ought to hide our heads in a bag," Kennedy said on the Senate floor as he pointed to the shutdown record. "It's got to stop. Shutting down government — it should not be our default solution to our refusal to work out our issues and our differences."

Sen. Kennedy released a statement on X following his bill's passage:

If senators are going to vote to shut down the government and prevent millions of federal workers from getting paid, they ought to have the same skin in the game.

My resolution passed the Senate today to ensure they do.

That's common sense.https://t.co/TDNJxAiISk

— John Kennedy (@SenJohnKennedy) May 14, 2026

The new policy will go into effect after midterms.

Sen. Kennedy has expressed concerns that Democrats may try to shut down the government again before November.

Per Politico:

Kennedy predicts another funding lapse when federal cash expires at the beginning of October. “I’m very concerned that my Senate colleagues on the Democratic side are going to try to shut down the government yet again right before the election, to try to create chaos to affect the midterm elections,” he said.

Notably, Sen. Kennedy's bill applies only to the Senate -- not to the House of Representatives, though similar measures have been introduced to the House.

It would be great if House Republicans could follow in the Senate's footsteps to dissuade Democrats from creating another government shutdown later this year.

Rep. Nancy Mace made an excellent observation:

This has our full support. No member of Congress deserves a paycheck while federal workers go unpaid. Watch how fast shutdowns end when their own wallets are on the line. https://t.co/yOKgV6WoK8

— Rep. Nancy Mace (@RepNancyMace) May 13, 2026

What are your thoughts?