H.R. 518

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 518 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 518

To withhold the pay of Members of Congress in certain cases, and for 
other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

January 16, 2025

Mr. LaLota introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on House Administration

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To withhold the pay of Members of Congress in certain cases, and for 
other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Troops Before Politicians Act''.

SEC. 2. WITHHOLDING OF PAY OF MEMBERS OF CONGRESS IN CERTAIN CASES.

(a) Holding Salaries in Escrow.--If on any day during a pay period 
members of the Armed Forces, including the reserve components thereof, 
who perform active service during such period are not receiving amounts 
of pay due to such members, including as a result of a lapse in 
appropriations for a fiscal year, the payroll administrator of a House 
of Congress shall--
(1) withhold the payments otherwise required to be made 
during the period for the compensation of each Member of 
Congress who serves in that House of Congress; and
(2) deposit in an escrow account all amounts withheld under 
paragraph (1).
(b) Release of Amounts Held in Escrow.--
(1) Release.--The payroll administrator of a House of 
Congress shall release for payments to Members of that House of 
Congress any amounts in any escrow account under this 
subsection as soon as practicable after the date that the lapse 
in pay described in subsection (a) terminates.
(2) Special rule for one hundred nineteenth congress.--In 
order to ensure that this section is carried out in a manner 
that shall not vary the compensation of Senators or 
Representatives in violation of the twenty-seventh article of 
amendment to the Constitution of the United States, the payroll 
administrator of a House of Congress shall release for payments 
to Members of that House of Congress any amounts remaining in 
any escrow account under this subsection on the last day of the 
One Hundred Nineteenth Congress.
(c) Role of Secretary of the Treasury.--The Secretary of the 
Treasury shall provide the payroll administrators of the Houses of 
Congress with such assistance as may be necessary to enable the payroll 
administrators to carry out this Act.
(d) Definitions.--In this section--
(1) the terms ``active service'' and ``Armed Forces'' have 
the meanings given such terms in section 101 of title 10, 
United States Code;
(2) the term ``Member of Congress'' means an individual 
serving in a position under subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of 
section 601(a) of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (2 
U.S.C. 4501);
(3) the ``payroll administrator'' of a House of Congress 
means--
(A) in the case of the House of Representatives, 
the Chief Administrative Officer of the House of 
Representatives, or an employee of the Office of the 
Chief Administrative Officer who is designated by the 
Chief Administrative Officer to carry out this Act; and
(B) in the case of the Senate, the Secretary of the 
Senate, or an employee of the Office of the Secretary 
of the Senate who is designated by the Secretary to 
carry out this Act; and
(4) the term ``reserve components'' means the components 
named in section 10101 of title 10, United States Code.
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