Congress ties its own paycheck to budget deadlines—but will it work?
H.R. 5755 — No Budget, No Pay Act · Filed by Scott Peters (D-CA) · 8 cosponsors · Introduced Oct 14, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill withholds pay from all members of Congress if they fail to pass a budget resolution and all regular appropriations bills by October 1 each fiscal year. Members lose salary for each day after the deadline until both chambers approve a budget and all 12 appropriations bills; they cannot receive retroactive pay for the withheld period. The mechanism is enforced by budget and appropriations committee chairs in each chamber, and takes effect February 1, 2027.
Why we flagged it
The bill is a procedural enforcement tool designed to create personal financial consequences for legislative delay, rather than substantive policy reform. It targets congressional behavior directly through salary withholding rather than addressing root causes of budget dysfunction.
What the text implies
- Committee chairs (Budget and Appropriations) gain significant gatekeeping power to determine compliance and withholding periods, potentially creating leverage for procedural obstruction or negotiation.
- The bill does not address what happens if Congress is deadlocked on substantive disagreements (e.g., spending levels, policy riders); pay withholding may simply accelerate pressure to pass inadequate or rushed legislation rather than resolve underlying disputes.
- Retroactive pay prohibition may disproportionately harm lower-income members who depend on regular salary and cannot absorb extended unpaid periods, while wealthier members with outside income are less affected.
- The February 1, 2027 effective date suggests this is a forward-looking reform, but does not address whether it applies retroactively to any current fiscal year disputes.
Who it affects
The bill creates a direct financial incentive for Congress to meet budget deadlines, potentially reducing government shutdowns and fiscal brinkmanship that harm ordinary citizens through service disruptions and economic uncertainty. However, the mechanism may also incentivize rushed, poorly-scrutinized legislation to meet artificial deadlines, and the pay-withholding itself does not address the underlying structural dysfunction that causes budget delays.
Named in the bill
Congress, Senate Committee on the Budget, Senate Committee on Appropriations, House Committee on the Budget, House Committee on Appropriations, Secretary of the Senate, Chief Administrative Officer of the House of Representatives
Where it stands
8 cosponsors: 5 Republicans, 3 Democrats.
- Oct 14, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Oct 14, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on House Administration · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on House Administration”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the full bill text on Jul 6, 2026; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
“Congress ties its own paycheck to budget deadlines—but will it work?” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/hr5755 Report an error
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