The longest government shutdown in American history wrapped up this past week after 43 days of disruption that affected everything from food assistance programs to air travel. But while more than a million federal employees went without paychecks and Americans faced real hardship, members of Congress kept collecting their full salaries—a constitutional quirk that's worth examining.

The Constitutional Pay Protection

All 535 members of Congress—100 Senators and 435 House Representatives—received their regular paychecks throughout the shutdown, protected by provisions in the U.S. Constitution that prevent congressional pay from being interrupted.

The math is straightforward. Base members of Congress earn $174,000 annually, which works out to about $476.71 per day. Over 43 days, that adds up to $20,498.53 per member. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.) has a higher annual salary of $223,500, translating to $612.33 daily. Johnson collected $26,330 during the shutdown period.

To be fair, not every member of Congress actually took the money. According to reporting from the New York Post, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) declined his salary during the shutdown. Around 55 Senators total chose not to collect their paychecks, the report found. Some members, including Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), pledged to donate their shutdown pay to charity.

Political Fallout and Voter Sentiment

The shutdown took a measurable toll on public opinion, particularly for Republicans. A Morning Consult poll revealed that President Donald Trump's approval rating slipped from 46% before the shutdown to 44% during it, while his disapproval climbed from 52% to 54%.

The shutdown dominated public attention—63% of voters said they'd seen, read, or heard "a lot" about it, making it the top story for several weeks. Flight cancellations and disruptions to SNAP food assistance funding were among the other concerns weighing on voters' minds.

When it came to assigning blame, voters pointed fingers more at Republicans than Democrats. The poll found that 46% of voters held Republicans responsible for the shutdown, compared to 38% who blamed Democrats.

The favorability numbers tell a similar story. Congressional Democrats saw their approval edge up slightly to 45% with 47% disapproval, compared to 44% approval and 46% disapproval before the shutdown. Congressional Republicans, meanwhile, slipped to 40% approval and 52% disapproval from 41% approval and 49% disapproval.

Looking ahead to the 2026 midterms, voters favored Democrats 48% to 43%—a wider margin than the 45% to 41% advantage Democrats held before the shutdown began.

Market Response Differs from Previous Shutdown

The stock market's reaction to this shutdown was notably different from what followed the last major shutdown. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY), which tracks the benchmark index, closed at $683.38 on Wednesday when the shutdown ended and dropped to $671.93 by Friday's close—a 1.7% decline over those two trading days.

Compare that to the aftermath of the 2018-2019 shutdown. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) closed at $240.70 on December 21, 2018, before that shutdown began. By January 25, 2019, when it ended, the ETF had climbed to $265.78—a 10.4% gain. That year turned out to be exceptional for investors, with the SPY finishing 2019 up 31.2%, its best annual return in 11 years.

The contrast suggests the previous shutdown was barely a blip for markets, despite being the longest on record at the time. Whether this pattern repeats itself remains to be seen.

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) is currently up 14.9% year-to-date in 2025, though it's gained only 1.5% over the past month. The funding bill that ended this shutdown only runs through January 30, which means investors face the prospect of another potential shutdown in less than two months—hardly the kind of certainty markets prefer.