Daily Herald opinion: Check, please: If federal employees go without pay during shutdowns, so should Congress

As the government shutdown nears the one-month mark, and nearly 2 million Illinoisans are on track to lose their federal food benefits Saturday, a recent move by a suburban congressman is well worth noting.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Bill Foster of Naperville announced he’ll donate the congressional pay he receives during the shutdown to the Northern Illinois Food Bank. He did the same during previous shutdowns in 2013 and 2019. Other suburban members of Congress have made similar moves in the past.

It’s a generous and laudable decision, and the Geneva-based food bank is a worthy cause. But Foster’s announcement brings to mind a bigger question: Why are members of Congress and President Donald Trump — the ones responsible for the shutdown — drawing paychecks while their aides and more than a million other federal workers do not?

The answer lies in the Constitution, but the unfairness of it still rankles.

Article I, Section 6 of the Constitution states: “The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States.” The president’s pay is also guaranteed.

Federal workers, meanwhile, do without. The Bipartisan Policy Center says at least 670,000 federal employees are furloughed and another 730,000 must work without pay.

Members of the military are also required to serve, and their pay could end Friday when a temporary solution runs out.

If there’s no movement in Congress to end this mess in the next few days, the current shutdown will earn the dubious distinction of being the longest in U.S. history. The current record-holder lasted 35 days, stretching from late 2018 into 2019 during the first Trump administration.

For politicians, shutdowns produce killer sound bites. But the financial brinkmanship hurts Americans and sets the stage for a predictable show of Democrats blaming Republicans and Republicans blaming Democrats.

In a release about his decision to donate his pay, Foster blasted Republicans. House Speaker Mike Johnson, meanwhile, did the same to Democrats.

“Day 27 means it's almost been a full month since the Democrats shut down the government,” Johnson said Monday at his daily news conference at the Capitol.

Since then, Day 27 turned into Day 28 — and then 29 — in a march toward a shameful new shutdown record.

Perhaps if our elected leaders lost their paychecks for more than a month, they’d have more incentive to come to the table, to talk, to compromise.

Perhaps not.

But when this crisis passes, they should take on the issue.

A constitutional amendment that would prohibit members of Congress from receiving a salary during a shutdown was introduced this fall. If passed, it could only take effect after the next election.

Doing so, of course, would be challenging given the amendment process, and previous proposals have gone nowhere. Still, elected officials ought to give the proposal serious consideration — or be prepared to explain to voters why they haven’t.

Until then, we hope others follow Foster’s example.