{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://web.archive.org/web/20140221103109/http://pearce.house.gov/press-release/pearce-returns-pay", "PEARCE RETURNS PAY", "2013-10-23", "2013", "2013-10", "Republican", "House", "NM", "Steve Pearce", "P000588", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "Washington, DC (October 23, 2013)\u2013 Today, U.S. Congressman Steve Pearce submitted a check to the U.S. Treasury Department for the amount of $6283.99, the amount he was paid during the partial government shutdown earlier this month.\u00a0\n\u201cThe shutdown impacted Americans,\u201d said Pearce, \u201cand it is wrong for members of Congress to receive a paycheck while other government employees faced uncertainty.\u00a0 I announced when the shutdown began that I would return any pay received while the government wasn\u2019t fully functioning.\u00a0 In returning my pay I have requested that the Treasury apply the full amount to the national debt.\u201d\nUnder the 27th\u00a0Amendment, members of Congress are required to be paid, so Pearce still received pay for his work during the shutdown.\u00a0 However, he promised to return to the Treasury any pay received during that time, and today made good on that promise.\u00a0\nPearce calculated the amount as his salary for the 16 days the shutdown lasted not including taxes and withholding which are paid to the government regardless.\nThe text of Congressman Pearce\u2019s letter to the Treasury is available here.\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://web.archive.org/web/20140221103109/http://pearce.house.gov/press-release/pearce-returns-pay"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7150070741772652, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}