No cost of living adjustment for Members of Congress in fiscal year 2026
Making continuing appropriations and extensions for fiscal year 2026, and for other purposes, section 5, Sec. 5.
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No cost of living adjustment for Members of Congress in fiscal year 2026
The document says “shall not”Who acts: CongressHow: statuteSec. 5 in the PDF
What the document says
“Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no adjustment shall be made under section 601(a) of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (2 U.S.C. 4501) (relating to cost of living adjustments for Members of Congress) during fiscal year 2026.”
Section 210 of division C blocks the automatic pay adjustment for Members for the year, as legislative branch bills have done each year since 2009.
What the document actually says
“Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no adjustment shall be made under section 601(a) of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (2 U.S.C. 4501) (relating to cost of living adjustments for Members of Congress) during fiscal year 2026.”
That sentence, in plain words
Members of Congress get no raise for the cost of living in this budget year.
What this is about
By an old law their pay would rise on its own each year. Congress turns that off again here.
No action is recorded against this proposal. That is not evidence that none has been taken, and nobody has yet read it against the record. See what the tracker does not yet cover.
Continuing Appropriations, Agriculture, Legislative Branch, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Extensions Act, 2026, Public Law 119-37, sec. 5, 139 Stat. 496 (2025). https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-119publ37/html/PLAW-119publ37.htm
This page
“No cost of living adjustment for Members of Congress in fiscal year 2026,” Continuing Appropriations, Agriculture, Legislative Branch, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Extensions Act, 2026, section 5, Sec. 5. Read the Mandate, https://readthemandate.org/continuing-appropriations-agriculture-legislative/proposal/sec05-no-member-cost-of-living-adjustment/ (retrieved October 10, 2026).
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