Congressional staff were informed that they would not receive their next paycheck on October 31, as the government shutdown has stretched into its 29th day, according to multiple reports.
House Chief Administrative Officer Catherine Szpindor explained in a memo sent out on Wednesday that because “appropriations legislation was not enacted,” paychecks for staffers covering the pay period of the month of October, would “be delayed,” according to Axios.
“Paychecks will not be disbursed until after appropriations legislation is enacted,” Szpindor said. “For example, the next U.S. House of Representatives paycheck covering the pay period October 1-31, 2025, is scheduled to be paid by direct deposit on Friday, October 31.”
Szpindor added: “Since appropriations legislation was not enacted, the October 31st paycheck will be delayed until after the date of the enactment.”
The memo from Szpindor also explained that payments under Congress’s program to assist with the repayment of student loans would “not be made to lenders and/or employees reimbursed.”
“House Retention through Education Advancement Program (REAP) payments will not be made to lenders and/or employees reimbursed,” the memo said. “Contact your lender to make alternate payment arrangements, so your loan remains in good standing and eligible for the program as the House never assumes loan responsibility for participating staff.”
Reese Gorman, a politics reporter with NOTUS, also revealed, “House staffers, who are paid once a month,” had been informed that they would not receive their paychecks on Friday.
Congressional staffers being informed that they will not receive their paychecks comes as funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), is set to expire at the end of the month, affecting roughly 42 million Americans.
On Tuesday, Vice President JD Vance confirmed that the Trump administration believes they will be able to “continue to pay” United States military personnel for now, though he pointed out that they were dealing with the issue of SNAP funding expiring.
Vance’s comments came after it was reported that billionaire Timothy Mellon, an ally of President Donald Trump’s, was behind the $130 million donation to the government to pay military troops during the government shutdown.
As more Americans continue to be affected by the ongoing government shutdown, Senate Democrats voted on Tuesday — for the 13th time — against a clean continuing resolution (CR) that would reopen the government. The CR, which needs to receive “60 votes to advance,” only received Democrat support from Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), and Sen. Angus King (I-ME), the Hill reported.
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