Democrat Won’t Say Whether He Will Forgo Pay During Shutdown While Staff Works Unpaid

Senate staffers did not receive their first full paycheck due to the government shutdown Monday, but at least one Democratic lawmaker who has repeatedly voted against reopening the government won’t say whether he still plans to receive his paycheck.

Arizona Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego told the Daily Caller News Foundation on Monday that he is “still evaluating” whether to request that his next paycheck be withheld. Gallego also criticized Republicans for pursuing “symbolic and absurd gestures” during the shutdown, while arguing that most of his colleagues are wealthy individuals who can afford to miss a paycheck. (RELATED: Democrats block legislation to pay troops during shutdown)

“But the whole point of this is just one big ploy because all these guys here are either millionaires or billionaires and have already been paid for the month before they started doing this,” Gallego told the DCNF, referring to his House colleagues who are paid on a monthly basis. “At the same time, they have been negligent in the fact that they are going to raise insurance premiums for 24 million Americans, which could potentially leave 4 million Americans without health insurance.”

“But they will make these symbolic, absurd gestures that will do nothing to help the cause,” Gallego continued.

Members of Congress receive their salaries during a shutdown because of a provision in the Constitution protecting their salaries. Lawmakers earn an annual salary of $174,000, with those in leadership positions receiving larger sums.

A large number of lawmakers from both parties have pledged to forgo their next paycheck as long as the shutdown continues.

Gallego previously told NBC News before the shutdown began that he couldn’t afford to miss a paycheck, citing his three children.

“I would basically be missing, you know, mortgage payments, rent payments, child support,” the Arizona Democrat, who divorced and remarried in 2019, told the outlet. “So it’s not feasible, it’s not going to happen.”

WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 1: Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) leaves the Senate Chamber of the United States Capitol on October 1, 2025 in Washington, DC. The government shut down early Wednesday after Congress failed to reach a funding deal. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Senate staff received an email Thursday stating that all future paychecks will be withheld until the shutdown ends, according to an email obtained by DCNF.

The DCNF asked Gallego about his staff, who likely have similar financial problems, who did not receive their paychecks Monday.

“I told you what I told you,” Gallego said, declining to go into detail.

Arizona Republican Rep. Juan Ciscomani hammered Gallego for refusing to discuss his staff not receiving salaries during the shutdown.

So much information here about Ruben Gallego:

1. “Still in evaluation”? Even after being given the chance to change course and do the right thing, Ruben still can’t find that chance in himself.

2. “Gimick”? How about principle and solidarity with everyone you hurt with this ruling while choosing to… https://t.co/kGdblFK7hz

–Juan Ciscomani (@JuanCiscomani) October 20, 2025

“No comment on his own staff not being paid? Maybe he thinks they’re millionaires too…” Ciscomani wrote on X. “No character. No leadership. No shame.”

Senate Democrats have repeatedly refused to provide the votes needed to temporarily fund the government – ​​and end the shutdown.

Gallego has rejected a bipartisan House-passed funding measure to temporarily fund the government eleven times. This measure would also ensure that his staff and the millions of other federal employees who do not receive their pay will receive their pay.

The Arizona Democrat also voted Thursday against a procedural motion to advance a defense appropriations bill that would have paid the U.S. military for the entire fiscal year.

Gallego supported a Democratic-led counterproposal that would require the government to spend an additional $1.5 trillion on various partisan policy requests to fund operations through Oct. 31.

More than 500 people have applied for a $5,000 relief loan, according to a spokesperson for the U.S. Senate Federal Credit Union. Hundreds of Capitol Hill staffers and federal workers from various agencies became members of the credit union or its financial literacy-focused nonprofit simply to apply for the loan.

Andi Shae Napier contributed to this report.

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