72% Say Congress Should Not Be Paid During Shutdown

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  • When partial government shutdowns occur, 72% of voters say that members of Congress should not continue to be paid.
    • Just 18% say Congress should be paid during a shutdown.
    • There is bipartisan agreement on this issue.
    • Voters who talk politics every or nearly every day are split: while 48% say Congress should not be paid, 49% say they should continue to be paid.
    • A plurality (46%) of voters under 35 also say Congress should not be paid, but 43% say they should be paid.
  • Just 31% of voters agree with a recent Senate resolution that prevents the Senate from being paid during a shutdown but then receiving back pay when the government reopens.
    • More than half (55%) of voters disagree with that resolution.
    • Most Democrats (54%), Republicans (57%), and Independents (52%) say that the Senate should not receive back pay after a shutdown.
    • Again, voters who talk politics every or nearly every day are split: while 48% say Congress should not receive back pay, 44% say they should receive it.
    • Similarly, 49% of voters under 35 say the Senate should receive back pay.
  • A majority of voters (54%) know there is not currently a partial government shutdown.
    • Nineteen percent (19%) say the government is partially shut down, and 28% are not sure.

This data is from a Napolitan News Service survey of 1,000 Registered Voters conducted online by Scott Rasmussen, June 1-2, 2026. RMG Research, Inc., conducted the field work for the survey. It has a margin of error of +/- 3.1.