The Constitution guarantees members of Congress that they will be paid during a federal government shutdown. But at least 55 of the 100 U.S. senators are not collecting their salaries during the shutdown or are donating their salaries in solidarity with federal workers who are laid off and working without pay, according to an ABC News tally published Friday.
That number includes 26 Republicans, 28 Democrats and 1 independent. The offices of 27 Republicans, 17 Democrats and 1 independent have not responded.
To compile the list, ABC News contacted the offices several times for a response and sent emails to several staff members in each office. Congressional staff are not paid during the shutdown and are currently on leave or working without pay, as their salaries are funded annually by Congress.
Why wouldn’t members of Congress draw their own salaries?
“Your goal is to be empathetic,” Casey Burgat, a professor at George Washington University’s Graduate School of Political Management, told ABC News, to “show people that you feel their pain too and that they shouldn’t benefit when you’re responsible for their lack of pay.”
But while lawmakers from both parties are withholding their salaries, they are also pointing fingers.
Burgat told ABC News this is also part of lawmakers’ messaging to their constituents in an attempt to blame the “other side.”
U.S. Sen. Katie Britt, R-Alabama, speaks during an announcement by President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on October 16, 2025.
Andrew Caballero-reynolds/AFP via Getty Images
Republican Senator Katie Britt of Alabama, for example, wrote in X in early October that his salary would be withheld because “Democrats have decided to shut down the government, laying off our federal workers and withholding pay for our troops,” and that he encouraged his Democratic colleagues to also withhold his salary.
Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, who is also unpaid, He pointed his finger at the other party.: “In solidarity with America’s federal workers, I will not accept any pay during this shutdown… It’s time for Republicans to join us at the table.”
Some of the senators whose offices confirmed to ABC News that they will donate their salaries include Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., whose office said she is donating to health care causes and Meals on Wheels; and Republican Sen. Ashley Moody, R-Fla., who said she will donate her salary to the Tampa Bay Crisis Center.
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., speaks to reporters about President Donald Trump’s foreign policy intentions, with Venezuela in particular, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
The office of Democratic Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., confirmed that his salary will be donated to Federal Employee Education. & Assistance Fund.
Republican Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., has said he will donate his salary to the Joseph Project. a program he helped launch that connects people to jobs.
It is not clear how many senators are still receiving their salaries.
US Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) speaks to members of the media after a bipartisan lunch, weeks after the continued US government shutdown on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, US, on October 23, 2025.
Kylie Cooper/Reuters
Senator Rubén Gallego, Democrat of Arizona, told NBC News in early October that it was not feasible for him to skip his paycheck, saying he is not wealthy and has rent, mortgage and child support payments.
In a later interview on CNN, Gallego described the payment waiver as “tricks” that didn’t help people.
“First of all, most of these senators are millionaires, right? And all these congressmen who complain about that already paid them for the entire month,” he said. “So it’s all a big gimmick. And when these people complain about this or that, what’s happening is they’re not really focusing on all these Americans who are going to lose their insurance.”
ABC News reached out to Gallego’s office for clarification on whether Gallego currently receives a salary, but has not received a response.
Sen. Rubén Gallego, D-Ariz., during voting at the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025.
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Imag
Gallego is right that not accepting payments is a trick, Burgat told ABC News, since members of Congress, under the Constitution, must be paid. That may explain why some are donating their salaries rather than deferring payment.
Many members of Congress are not independently wealthy, Burgat said, and they really need the salary. which is $174,000 a year for senators and representatives of the United States House of Representatives who do not hold leadership positions.
Some lawmakers have also introduced bills that would impose financial penalties on members of Congress during a shutdown or suspend their salaries.
Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, for example, presented a bill that would “impose a daily tax on members of Congress during a gap in appropriations.” Moreno will not receive a salary during the closure.
ABC News’ Brittany Shepherd and Emily Chang contributed to this report.
