Is Congress's pay protected even if the US defaults? Today around the watercooler, us active duty military, and civil service employees were discussing the possible effects of the US defaulting. Since we are all paid by the government, this is a very intensely personal issue to all of us. During the discussions, a claim was made that I found hard to believe. CLAIM: If the US Government defaults, and must decide what bills and services to not pay, by law, Congressional pay is protected, and would be the last thing NOT paid (i.e. all other government bills would be cut before congressional pay gets cut). Is this at all true?

It looks like they might be because the office of Congressman Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.) has proposed a measure to prevent it from happening; although I don't think there are any hard rules on the books about this.

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