At least five GOP members of South Carolina’s congressional delegation have asked to have their salaries withheld until the ongoing federal government shutdown finally comes to an end.
Two more congressmen — Sen. Lindsey Graham and Rep. Ralph Norman — opted to forgo their pay entirely, instead donating it to charity. And two others did not respond to calls or emails from the SC Daily Gazette.
Under federal law, the president, Congress and federal judges all receive regular paychecks during shutdowns, unlike the 2 million civilian government employees and thousands of congressional staffers.
Members of Congress have the option to receive their pay as normal, donate it to charity, give the money back to the Treasury to buy down the federal debt, or have their checks withheld. They will get backpay when the shutdown ends, like other federal workers who don’t get an option.
Congress members’ base salary is $174,000 annually, or $14,500 a month.
Pay withheld
In separate statements to the SC Daily Gazette, five of South Carolina’s Republicans on Capitol Hill said Congress should not get paid while federal employees and families across the country go without because of the ongoing stalemate, but they will collect when it’s over. Those statements came from U.S. Reps. Sheri Biggs, Russell Fry, Nancy Mace, William Timmons and Joe Wilson on Tuesday, 12 days after federal workers missed their first full paycheck since the shutdown began Oct. 1.
“I’ve refused my paycheck during the shutdown because if our troops, border agents, and essential workers aren’t getting paid, I shouldn’t either,” said Biggs, whose conservative 3rd Congressional District spans 11 counties from Edgefield County on the Georgia border to the state’s northwest corner, including Laurens County.
“Public service means putting others first, and I’ll always stand with the hardworking Americans who keep this country running,” she added in a statement.
Wilson pointed to his pledge on social media at the onset of the shutdown.
“A government shutdown is irresponsible,” he posted Oct. 1, noting he voted with Republicans on the stopgap spending bill that cleared the House. “In solidarity with those Americans who feel the financial hardships of this ill-advised vote, I will not accept my own government salary until this government shutdown is over.”
The 2nd District congressman said he’s followed through with that pledge.
Democrats and Republicans have pointed fingers, each blaming the other for prolonging the shutdown.
Republicans in the House passed a stopgap spending bill Sept. 19 that would have kept government running at then-current levels through Nov. 21. Republicans in the Senate can’t pass that on their own because their narrow majority can’t reach the chamber’s required 60-vote threshold. The measure failed in the Senate for a 14th time Tuesday on a 54-44 vote. Graham and Sen. Tim Scott were again among the “yes” votes.
Democrats are holding out for a permanent extension of enhanced federal tax credits that buy down the cost of health insurance in the online marketplace created by the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare. Initially approved during the pandemic, those enhancements that make private health insurance affordable are set to expire Dec. 31. Republicans contend the government must open before those negotiations begin.
“While Senate Democrats play politics and hold the government hostage, Congresswoman Mace refuses to collect a dime until our troops and federal workers get the pay they’ve earned,” according to a statement from the coastal 1st District representative’s office. “She voted to keep the government open and won’t take her salary until theirs is restored.”
Active-duty military actually have continued to receive a paycheck. President Donald Trump ordered the U.S. Department of Defense to repurpose money to keep those dollars flowing — at least for now.
To make the troops’ most recent payday, the defense agency pulled $2.5 billion from a military housing fund included in Republican’s “One Big Beautiful” spending package passed earlier this year. In addition, $1.4 billion came from military research funds and another $1.4 billion came from an account that pays for the building of U.S. Navy ships.
A constitutional push
Graham and Norman, both Republicans, have each introduced a constitutional amendment in their chamber that would automatically do away with congressional pay in any future shutdown.
Fourth District Rep. Timmons, of Greenville; and 7th District Rep. Fry, of Horry County, also voiced support for the idea.
Congress has voted several times over the years to officially withhold members’ salaries during a shutdown, but none of the proposals passed.
A measure to change the Constitution likely stands even less of a chance. The process requires two-thirds majority approval in each chamber, then approval by three-fourths of the states for ratification.
But in the meantime, both have pledged to donate their pay to charity.
When the shutdown started, Graham announced he will donate his salary to the Upstate Warrior Solution, which helps veterans and their families with needs such as housing and jobs.
Norman said he will make donations to the Children’s Attention Home, which helps foster children and homeless youth, and the Westminster Presbyterian Church Fund.
“If members of Congress had to forfeit their pay during government shutdowns, there would be fewer shutdowns and they would end quicker,” Graham said in a statement. “Not only should members of Congress not get paid during shutdowns, but the forfeited salaries should be used to pay down the federal debt.”
Norman, who is among five Republicans running for governor in 2026, called it “unconscionable” for politicians to get backpay during a shutdown.
“While hardworking Americans are tightening their belts, Congress shouldn’t be insulated from the very consequences it helped create,” the 5th District congressman from Rock Hill said in a statement.
The church and the veterans’ charity declined to comment on how they would put the donations to use. The SC Daily Gazette was unable to reach the Children’s Attention Home for comment.
Scott and 6th District Rep. Jim Clyburn, the state’s lone Democrat in Congress, did not respond to requests for comment.
Jessica Holdman writes about the economy, workforce and higher education. Before joining the SC Daily Gazette, she was a business reporter for The Post and Courier.
SC Daily Gazette is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
THE DEADLOCK:
Congress remains deadlocked, with government shutdown now on day 35
BY: ARIANA FIGUEROA AND SHAUNEEN MIRANDA - NOVEMBER 4, 2025 3:11 PM UPDATED 4:07 PM
This report has been updated.
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate Tuesday failed for the 14th time to advance a stopgap spending bill to fund the government, as the ongoing shutdown hit 35 days and is now tied with the shutdown of 2018-2019 as the longest ever.
The 54-44 vote was nearly identical to the previous 13 votes, as Republicans and Democrats remained unwilling to change positions. The legislation extending funding to Nov. 21 needed at least 60 votes to advance, per the Senate’s legislative filibuster.
Even though the upper chamber has been unable to pass a stopgap spending measure for more than a month, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters Tuesday that he believes senators are “making progress.”
He floated keeping the Senate in session next week. The chamber is scheduled to be in recess for the Veterans Day holiday.
“We’ll think through that as the week progresses, but I guess my hope would be we’ll make some progress,” he said.
Thune added that any stopgap spending bill will need to be extended past Nov. 21, “because we’re almost up against the November deadline right now.”
Duffy warns of flight ‘chaos’ due to staff shortages
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned during a Tuesday press conference at the Department of Transportation that if the government shutdown continues into next week, it would lead to “chaos” and certain airspace would need to be closed due to a shortage of air traffic controllers who have continued to work amid the shutdown.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said at a separate press conference at the Capitol that he would bring the House back to vote on a stopgap spending measure if the Senate extends the funding date.
“If the Senate passes something, of course we’ll come back,” Johnson said. “We’re running out of (the) clock.”
Johnson said he is “not a fan” of extending the bill to December and would prefer a January deadline.
He said extending a stopgap funding bill “into January makes sense, but we got to, obviously, build consensus around that.”
Senators at odds
On Tuesday’s Senate vote, Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto and Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, both Democrats, and Maine independent Sen. Angus King voted with Republicans to advance the legislation. Kentucky GOP Sen. Rand Paul voted no.
Senate Democrats have refused to support the House-passed GOP measure over concerns about the expiration of health care tax subsidies. As open enrollment begins, people who buy their health insurance through the Affordable Care Act Marketplace are seeing a drastic spike in premium costs.
Republicans have maintained that any negotiations on health care must occur after Democrats agree to fund the government.
The Trump administration has also tried to pressure Democrats to accept the House stopgap spending measure by instructing the U.S. Department of Agriculture to not tap into its contingency fund to provide critical food assistance to 42 million Americans.
SNAP fight
Two federal courts have found the Trump administration acted unlawfully in holding back those benefits, and on Monday USDA announced it would partially release Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits.
However, President Donald Trump Tuesday morning wrote on his social media platform that SNAP benefits would only be released when Democrats vote to reopen the government, a move that would likely violate the two court orders.
“SNAP BENEFITS, which increased by Billions and Billions of Dollars (MANY FOLD!) during Crooked Joe Biden’s disastrous term in office (Due to the fact that they were haphazardly ‘handed’ to anyone for the asking, as opposed to just those in need, which is the purpose of SNAP!), will be given only when the Radical Left Democrats open up government, which they can easily do, and not before!,” he wrote.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a Tuesday briefing that the president’s social media post did not refer to the court order, but was referring to future SNAP payments.
“The president doesn’t want to tap into this (contingency) fund in the future and that’s what he was referring to,” she said.
‘Republican health care crisis’
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York stood firm in his party’s demands over extending health care tax credits in order to back a stopgap spending bill during a Tuesday press conference at the Capitol.
“We want to reopen the government — we want to find a bipartisan path forward toward enacting a spending agreement that actually makes life better for the American people, that lowers costs for the American people, as opposed to the Trump economy where things are getting more expensive by the day,” Jeffries said.
“And, of course, we have to decisively address the Republican health care crisis that is crushing the American people all across the land.”
He noted that Republicans’ refusal to extend the enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credits would result in “tens of millions of Americans experiencing dramatically increased premiums, co-pays and deductibles.”
An analysis by KFF shows that those enrollees in the Affordable Care Act marketplace who currently receive a tax credit are likely to see their monthly premium payments more than double by about 114% on average.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the spike in health care premiums will cause some people to choose to forgo health care insurance.
“It’s a five-alarm health care emergency,” Schumer said.
Johnson’s January CR rationale
Meanwhile, Johnson said at his press conference that “a lot of people around here have PTSD about Christmas omnibus spending bills,” when speaking out against a December extension of the stopgap spending bill.
GOP leaders have sought to do away with the practice of bundling at the end of the year the final versions of the dozen annual government funding bills into what’s known as an omnibus package.
“We don’t want to do that. It gets too close, and we don’t want to have that risk,” Johnson said. “We’re not doing that.”
However, it’s unclear how long the new stopgap spending bill will extend. Thune, during a Tuesday press conference, said a year-long continuing resolution, or CR, was not on the table.
“There’s a conversation around what that next deadline would be,” Thune said, adding that there is not an agreement yet.
Ariana covers the nation's capital for States Newsroom. Her coverage areas include immigration, congressional policy and legal challenges with a focus on how those policies impact the lives of immigrants and migrants coming to the U.S.
Shauneen Miranda is a reporter for States Newsroom’s Washington bureau. An alumna of the University of Maryland, she previously covered breaking news for Axios.
SC Daily Gazette is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
