Maryland US rep. to donate pay amid shutdown, as Trump questions backpay for furloughed workers

Ben Mause, The Baltimore Sun on Oct 8, 2025

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WASHINGTON — As federal employees prepare to miss their next paycheck, several lawmakers have volunteered to join them. Rep. April McClain Delaney will go a step further.

“The Congresswoman will be donating her pay during the shutdown to nonprofits within the 6th District that address food insecurity for families impacted by cuts to SNAP and other federal programs,” a spokesperson for McClain Delaney, a Western Maryland Democrat, told The Baltimore Sun on Monday.

No other member of the delegation plans to donate their pay. But no other member of the delegation is in quite the same position as McClain Delaney. The former Commerce Department official is married to businessman and former Rep. John Delaney. Together, the pair have an estimated net worth north of $90 million — far and away beyond the wealth of other members of the delegation.

“If you have independent means, then the ability to donate your salary is an option for you,” Todd Eberly, professor of political science at St. Mary’s College, told The Sun. “For some folks, donating their salary is the difference between whether or not they’re saving money for their kids’ education and paying their mortgage and stuff.”

The conversation around member pay — specifically, pay during a shutdown — has reignited since funding for the federal government lapsed on Oct. 1. Multiple members of Maryland’s congressional delegation have requested to have their pay withheld. They’ve said that members should be treated equally to the federal workers who go without pay until Congress does its job and funds the government.

“I think it’s important that as leaders we lead from the front and we be treated exactly the same as we’re asking employees of this government to be treated,” Rep. Johnny Olszewski, a Baltimore County Democrat, said during a press conference on Monday.

The Constitution protects the salary of congressional lawmakers, even in the midst of a shutdown. Article I, Section 6 states that “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.”

Members who withhold their salary during the shutdown will receive backpay once it reopens — the same as other federal employees.

“In no way am I trying to equate their situation with the folks that have to go to work and don’t know whether or not they’ll get back pay,” Eberly said. “But it would be incorrect for folks to make the assumption that because you’re a member of Congress, you’re wealthy.”

Representatives and senators are paid $174,000 a year, a pay rate that dates to 2009.

“You can say as much crap as you want about Congress and the type of people it attracts, and politicians [in general],” Brittany Martinez, a GOP strategist and former House staffer, said. “But the truth is, there’s a lot of good, hardworking people who are public servants in it for the right reason, who do live humble lives.”

Martinez added that she supported lawmakers withholding their salaries until the shutdown ends but didn’t think “they should be expected to donate.”

While back pay for federal employees is the law, some in the Trump administration are arguing that the law can be interpreted differently. A White House memo is circulating that suggests workers aren’t guaranteed back pay once the shutdown ends.

“The law is the law,” Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen said in a statement on Tuesday. “After the uncertainty federal employees faced in the 2019 Trump Shameful Shutdown, Senator Cardin and I worked to ensure federal employees would receive guaranteed back pay for any future shutdowns. That legislation was signed into law — and there is nothing this administration can do to change that.”

Republican congressional leaders distanced themselves from the memo.

“I hope that the furloughed workers receive back pay, of course,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, said during a press conference on Tuesday. “We have some extraordinary Americans who serve the federal government, who serve valiantly, and they work hard, and they serve in these various agencies doing really important work.”

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