Congress, Obama get paid in a government shutdown

Updated at 2:45 p.m. ET

Did you know Congress and President Obama would be paid if the federal government has to shut down this weekend?

Despite attempts in the U.S. House and Senate to block such a move, by law Congress and the president would continue to get paid if a budget deal is not reached by Friday. Aides who are deemed "essential" in helping members of Congress in carrying out their constitutional duties could also get paid, but not until federal funding is settled.

Rank-and-file members of Congress get paid $174,000 a year. Top leaders such as House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., earn more. The president's salary is $400,000 a year.

Last week, the House passed a bill by freshman Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark., that said Congress and the president would not get paid in the event of a government shutdown.

The measure also would enact the terms of a budget bill that passed the GOP-led House to cut $61 billion in federal spending, which has been rejected by the Democratic-controlled Senate and is considered a non-starter at the White House.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., got approval last month for her bill that would cut off pay to Congress and the president during a shutdown. It also would block any retroactive payments once a budget deal for the rest of fiscal 2011 is enacted.

Boxer's measure is also unlikely to go anywhere in this political environment. She and 21 Senate Democrats are pushing House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, to take up her legislation.

"If we cannot do our work and keep the government functioning, we should not receive a paycheck. If we cannot compromise and meet each other halfway, then we should not be paid," said the letter circulated by Boxer and Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa.

Members of Congress and the president are treated different from federal workers because they are paid through mandatory spending that is required by statute -- and not through the appropriations bills that fund the government. The stopgap spending bill that is currently funding the government runs out at midnight Friday.

Why is it so difficult to cut off pay for Congress? The 27th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is the answer. It states that "no law, varying the compensation for the services of the senators and representatives, shall take effect, until an election of representatives shall have intervened."

The House Administration Committee has issued guidelines to members of Congress about what would happen during a government shutdown, including rules on putting aides on furlough.

Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., whose district includes many federal workers, said today he doesn't feel right about letting his staff go if the government shuts down. "If they're not going to get paid, and I'm going to get paid, I'm going to do everything I can to keep them working."

(Contributing: Gregory Korte)