I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5942 

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

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 12, 2023 

Mr. LALOTA introduced the following bill 

OCTOBER 25, 2023 

Referred to the Committee on House Administration 

A BILL 

To withhold the pay of Members of Congress in certain 

cases, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Troops Before Politi5 cians Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. WITHHOLDING OF PAY OF MEMBERS OF CONGRESS 

7 IN CERTAIN CASES. 

8 (a) HOLDING SALARIES IN ESCROW.—If on any day 

9 during a pay period members of the Armed Forces, includVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:26 Nov 03, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5942.IH H5942

kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
2 

•HR 5942 IH

1 ing the reserve components thereof, who perform active 

2 service during such period are not receiving amounts of 

3 pay due to such members, including as a result of a lapse 

4 in appropriations for a fiscal year, the payroll adminis5 trator of a House of Congress shall— 

6 (1) withhold the payments otherwise required to 

7 be made during the period for the compensation of 

8 each Member of Congress who serves in that House 

9 of Congress; and 

10 (2) deposit in an escrow account all amounts 

11 withheld under paragraph (1). 

12 (b) RELEASE OF AMOUNTS HELD IN ESCROW.— 

13 (1) RELEASE.—The payroll administrator of a 

14 House of Congress shall release for payments to 

15 Members of that House of Congress any amounts in 

16 any escrow account under this subsection as soon as 

17 practicable after the date that the lapse in pay de18 scribed in subsection (a) terminates. 

19 (2) SPECIAL RULE FOR ONE HUNDRED EIGHT20 EENTH CONGRESS.—In order to ensure that this 

21 section is carried out in a manner that shall not 

22 vary the compensation of Senators or Representa23 tives in violation of the twenty-seventh article of 

24 amendment to the Constitution of the United States, 

25 the payroll administrator of a House of Congress 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
3 

•HR 5942 IH

1 shall release for payments to Members of that House 

2 of Congress any amounts remaining in any escrow 

3 account under this subsection on the last day of the 

4 One Hundred Eighteenth Congress. 

5 (c) ROLE OF SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY.—The 

6 Secretary of the Treasury shall provide the payroll admin7 istrators of the Houses of Congress with such assistance 

8 as may be necessary to enable the payroll administrators 

9 to carry out this Act. 

10 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

11 (1) the terms ‘‘active service’’ and ‘‘Armed 

12 Forces’’ have the meanings given such terms in sec13 tion 101 of title 10, United States Code; 

14 (2) the term ‘‘Member of Congress’’ means an 

15 individual serving in a position under subparagraph 

16 (A), (B), or (C) of section 601(a) of the Legislative 

17 Reorganization Act of 1946 (2 U.S.C. 4501); 

18 (3) the ‘‘payroll administrator’’ of a House of 

19 Congress means— 

20 (A) in the case of the House of Represent21 atives, the Chief Administrative Officer of the 

22 House of Representatives, or an employee of 

23 the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer 

24 who is designated by the Chief Administrative 

25 Officer to carry out this Act; and 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
4 

•HR 5942 IH

1 (B) in the case of the Senate, the Sec2 retary of the Senate, or an employee of the Of3 fice of the Secretary of the Senate who is des4 ignated by the Secretary to carry out this Act; 

5 and 

6 (4) the term ‘‘reserve components’’ means the 

7 components named in section 10101 of title 10, 

8 United States Code. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB