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HR 8140
Introduced Re-checks Congress.gov for new actions and updates the bill's status, and fills in any sponsors, committees, or related bills that are missing. It does not re-pull sponsors/cosponsors/committees/related — those rarely change — and it skips all work if nothing has changed upstream, so it's cheap to click.

Money Where Our Mouths Are Act

To prohibit the pay of Members of Congress during periods in which a Government shutdown is in effect, and for other purposes.

Introduced Mar 27, 2026

Latest action (Mar 27, 2026) Referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

Referred to
Oversight and Government Reform Committee Committee on House Administration
Policy area
Congress

Summary

The bill prohibits Members of Congress from receiving pay during any day a government shutdown is in effect. The amount withheld from a Member's pay is calculated based on one day's pay multiplied by the number of days the shutdown lasts during that pay period. The Chief Administrative Officer of the House and the Secretary of the Senate are responsible for implementing this pay withholding. The bill defines a government shutdown as a lapse in appropriations for any Federal agency due to failure to enact appropriations legislation.

AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.

Sponsor (1)

Actions (2)
  1. Mar 27, 2026 Referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned. · house
  2. Mar 27, 2026 Introduced in House

Similar bills (6)

Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.

  • HR 5637 — No Work, No Pay Act of 2025 · Introduced Sep 30, 2025 · Cong. 119 82%
  • HR 5792 — Government Shutdown Salary Suspension Act · Introduced Oct 17, 2025 · Cong. 119 81%
  • HR 5891 — Withhold Member Pay During Shutdowns Act · Introduced Mar 18, 2026 · Cong. 119 80%
  • HR 5678 — No Pay for Disarray Act · Introduced Oct 3, 2025 · Cong. 119 79%
  • S 3168 — Shutdown Fairness Act · Introduced Nov 10, 2025 · Cong. 119 77%
  • HR 5628 — Pay Workers What They’ve Earned Act · Introduced Sep 30, 2025 · Cong. 119 77%

Full text

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

March 27, 2026

Mr. James introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To prohibit the pay of Members of Congress during periods in which a Government shutdown is in effect, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the “Money Where Our Mouths Are Act”.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITING PAY OF MEMBERS OF CONGRESS IN RESPONSE TO GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN.

(a) Prohibition of Pay.—If on any day during a pay period a Government shutdown is in effect, the payroll administrator of each House of Congress shall exclude from the payments otherwise required to be made with respect to that pay period for the compensation of each Member of Congress who serves in that House of Congress an amount equal to the product of—

(1) an amount equal to one day’s worth of pay under the annual rate of pay applicable to the Member under section 601(a) of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (2 U.S.C. 4501); and

(2) the number of 24-hour periods during which the Government shutdown is in effect which occur during the pay period.

(b) Role of Secretary of the Treasury.—The Secretary of the Treasury shall provide the payroll administrators of the Houses of Congress with such assistance as may be necessary to enable the payroll administrators to carry out this section.

(c) Payroll Administrator Defined.—In this section, the “payroll administrator” of a House of Congress means—

(1) in the case of the House of Representatives, the Chief Administrative Officer of the House of Representatives, or an employee of the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer who is designated by the Chief Administrative Officer to carry out this section; and

(2) in the case of the Senate, the Secretary of the Senate, or an employee of the Office of the Secretary of the Senate who is designated by the Secretary to carry out this section.

(d) Effective Date.—This section shall apply with respect to days occurring during the One Hundred Twentieth Congress and each succeeding Congress.

SEC. 3. DETERMINATION OF GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN.

For purposes of this Act, a Government shutdown shall be considered to be in effect if there is a lapse in appropriations for any Federal agency or department as a result of a failure to enact a regular appropriations bill or continuing resolution.

SEC. 4. MEMBER OF CONGRESS DEFINED.

In this Act, the term “Member of Congress” means an individual serving in a position under subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of section 601(a) of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (2 U.S.C. 4501). <all>

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