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Are there precedents of past Speakers donating their salaries and how do those compare to Johnson?
Executive summary
There are multiple recent examples of members of Congress forgoing, withholding, or donating pay during the 2025 government shutdown; reporting shows “dozens” of lawmakers — including Speaker Mike Johnson — asked for pay to be withheld or pledged donations, but available fact-checking finds no reliable evidence that Johnson donates his entire congressional salary to charity (see ABC News on withheld pay and Snopes on the unproven full-donation claim) [1] [2].
1. How members of Congress have handled pay during the 2025 shutdown
The 2025 shutdown produced a notable wave of public pledges: journalists and trackers report dozens of Senators and Representatives have either asked for their pay to be withheld, are forgoing checks, or say they will donate their pay to charities and relief efforts; some outlets assembled lists of verified pledges and noted public attention to accountability is driving those gestures [1] [3].
2. Was Speaker Mike Johnson among those who withheld or donated pay?
Reporting shows Speaker Johnson’s office confirmed it asked that his pay be withheld for the duration of the shutdown, placing him among leaders who did not take pay while federal operations were suspended — ABC News lists both Johnson and Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries in that group [1]. However, a separate fact-checking review found social-media claims that Johnson had donated his entire salary to charity lacked substantiating evidence, and Snopes indicated it could not verify that claim [2].
3. The difference between “withholding” pay and “donating” pay
News coverage distinguishes asking payroll to be withheld during a shutdown (meaning no paycheck issued while funds are unavailable) from personally donating one’s pay after it is issued. Multiple lawmakers used either route: some asked payroll to stop checks during the shutdown, others later said they would donate backpay to charities or local causes; lists compiled by trackers attempted to distinguish confirmed paperwork from public pledges [1] [3].
4. Past precedents for lawmakers giving up pay during shutdowns
There is precedent: during the 2018–2019 shutdown at least 102 members publicly pledged to forgo or donate their pay (20 Senators and 82 Representatives), and the 2025 trackers compare current actions to that earlier episode, showing lawmakers routinely use withholding or donation pledges as a political response to public frustration over shutdown impacts [3].
5. What fact-checkers say specifically about the claim Johnson donates his entire salary
Snopes reviewed mid‑November 2025 social posts claiming Johnson donates his full congressional salary and concluded there was no evidence supporting that specific claim; the article notes Johnson’s financial disclosure did not list bank accounts and that his office did not respond with documentation as of the review, so Snopes did not rate the claim as proven [2]. A Yahoo News piece repeating the social media items also reported no firm evidence and noted discrepancies between the viral narrative and public financial records [4].
6. Conflicting signals in public reporting and investigative complaints
While some outlets describe Johnson as living modestly or having made statements about using salary for family needs, other reporting flagged potential ethics concerns — for example, Campaign Legal Center filings alleging possible improper use of campaign funds for housing — which complicates simple narratives about his personal finances and charitable giving [5] [6]. Available sources do not mention independent documentation of a continuous, full‑salary donation by Johnson.
7. How to judge political gestures versus verified donations
Journalistic trackers and fact-checkers recommend distinguishing public pledges (announcements or office statements), formal payroll actions (requests to withhold pay during a shutdown), and verifiable charitable receipts or disclosures showing transfers of funds. In this case, reporting confirms a withholding request from Johnson’s office during the shutdown but finds no public financial-disclosure evidence proving he donates his entire annual Speaker’s pay to charity [1] [2].
8. Bottom line and limitations of available reporting
Bottom line: donating or withholding pay is a known, repeated tactic by members of Congress during shutdowns and there are many contemporaneous examples in 2025 [3] [1]. On the specific claim that Speaker Mike Johnson donates his entire salary to charity, current fact‑checking and news reporting find no corroborating documentation and therefore do not confirm the claim [2] [4]. Limitations: available sources do not provide bank‑level confirmations or a ledger of Johnson’s charitable disbursements; absent those documents, definitive proof or refutation is not present in current reporting [2].