Who is down with Congress working as hard as the rest of America?
------------------------------------------
THE FULL TIME REPRESENTATION ACT
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Full Time Representation Act.”
SECTION 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
(a) Findings. Congress makes the following findings:
1. Full time American workers typically labor forty six weeks annually, excluding standard vacation and holidays, often without the flexibility afforded to Members of Congress;
2. Taxpayer funded congressional salaries exceed one hundred seventy four thousand dollars annually, demanding commensurate full time dedication to legislative duties;
3. Historical data indicate Congress averages fewer than one hundred fifty session days per year, with recesses exceeding twenty weeks, contributing to delays in budgeting, oversight, and policy enactment that harm public trust and governance efficiency.
(b) Purpose. This Act mandates a congressional schedule mirroring full time employment norms, enhances transparency, and imposes accountability through:
1. Minimum session thresholds to ensure consistent legislative activity;
2. Strict recess caps with supermajority overrides for exceptions;
3. Attendance mandates tied to salary escrow;
4. Salary escrow for failures in session compliance or key deadlines;
5. An independent commission for auditing, reporting, and enforcement referrals.
SECTION 3. DEFINITIONS.
For the purposes of this Act:
1. Active legislative session means a day when a chamber convenes, as evidenced by the gavel in recorded in the Congressional Record, and conducts substantive business such as floor debates, committee markups, hearings, or votes for at least six cumulative hours, with at least half of that time reserved for recorded votes or formal committee actions that advance legislation or oversight. A session day counts only if at least one recorded floor vote or a full committee markup with a recorded roll call occurs, and the vote must be on a legislative measure or formal motion under House rule twenty, clause six, or Senate rule twelve, paragraph one.
2. Recess means any adjournment sine die or for more than three consecutive days, excluding weekends and federal holidays, irrespective of Members’ locations or activities.
3. Session day means a calendar day meeting the criteria of an active legislative session.
4. Verified excuse means an absence justified by medical certification from a licensed physician, an immediate family emergency documented by affidavit, or pre approved official travel logged with the chamber’s ethics committee.
5. Commission means the Congressional Work Review Commission established under section eight.
6. Pay period means the biweekly interval for congressional salaries as established under the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act.
SECTION 4. MINIMUM LEGISLATIVE SESSION REQUIREMENTS.
(a) Annual mandate. Beginning in the first full calendar year after enactment, each chamber shall conduct active legislative sessions for at least forty six weeks, totaling no fewer than one hundred eighty four session days. Only days in which the full chamber gavels in count toward this mandate. Committee meetings during recess do not count toward the mandate. A session day counts only if at least one recorded floor vote or a full committee markup with a recorded roll call occurs on a legislative measure or formal motion under House rule twenty, clause six, or Senate rule twelve, paragraph one.
(b) Weekly mandate. During each active week the House and the Senate shall each hold at least four session days, prorated for weeks interrupted by federal holidays. If a scheduled day adjourns without achieving quorum due to excessive unexcused absences, the day does not count toward the weekly mandate and salary escrow under section six begins immediately for every absent Member. The total number of quorum calls without legislative business is capped at three per session day; additional calls void the day for mandate purposes and trigger salary escrow for absent Members.
(c) Session calendar.
1. Publication. Not later than January fifteen of each year, the Speaker of the House and the Senate Majority Leader shall jointly issue a binding session calendar via the congressional website, the Congressional Record, and the Federal Register, detailing planned session weeks, recess periods, and anticipated milestones.
2. Modification. Reductions in scheduled session days require a concurrent resolution with majority approval in both chambers, filed at least thirty days before the change takes effect. The resolution must include a detailed impact assessment on pending bills, oversight hearings, and constituent services, and must be published publicly.
SECTION 5. RECESS LIMITATIONS.
(a) Annual cap. Combined recess periods for each chamber shall not exceed six weeks per calendar year, inclusive of all adjournments and constituency periods. District work periods count toward this cap only if at least two days in the period include open, public constituent events announced seventy two hours in advance on the Member’s official website and local media. Events must be open at no charge, allow unscreened question and answer, and a summary must be posted afterward on the Member’s website.
(b) Individual recess limit. No recess may last more than ten consecutive days, excluding Sundays and federal holidays, unless extended under subsection (c).
(c) Extensions and exceptions.
1. Emergencies. Limits in subsections (a) and (b) are suspended during a national emergency declared under fifty United States Code section sixteen oh one and following, or a major disaster declared under forty two United States Code section fifty one twenty one and following, but only for the duration directly related to the event. Sessions must resume within seven days after the emergency or disaster ends.
2. Non emergency extensions. Any other extension requires a two thirds affirmative vote in each chamber by standalone resolution. The resolution must provide:
A. justification tied to unforeseen circumstances;
B. mandatory remote session alternatives, for example virtual hearings;
C. a firm resumption date not exceeding fourteen additional days; and
D. publication in the Congressional Record and online within twenty four hours.
SECTION 6. ATTENDANCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY.
(a) Attendance threshold. Each Member must be present in person or use chamber approved secure remote protocols for at least ninety percent of session days annually, unless excused under subsection (b).
(b) Penalties.
1. Salary escrow. Unexcused absences beyond the ten percent allowance result in placement of one three hundred sixty fifth of the Member’s annual salary per missed day into escrow. The Treasury holds these funds in the general fund with a monthly public ledger until compliance is restored or the next Congress begins. Escrowed salary is earned but unreleased, no interest accrues to Members, and any interest reverts to the Treasury. Unreleased funds lapse after six years under thirty one United States Code section fifteen fifty two. The House Chief Administrative Officer and Senate Disbursing Office shall transmit payroll data to the Treasury within five business days after each pay period.
2. Public reporting. Quarterly attendance, excuse, and escrow reports showing each Member by name shall be posted on the congressional website and sent to the Commission.
3. Leadership accountability. If the Speaker, Majority Leader, Minority Leader, Whip, or any committee chair fails to publish or update the calendar on time under section four, their entire salary goes into escrow for each delinquent day until corrected.
4. Criminal liability. Any Member or officer who knowingly submits false attendance, payroll, or calendar data violates eighteen United States Code section one thousand one and is subject to felony penalties.
(c) Remote participation standards. Remote access must ensure quorum verification, real time interaction, and public transparency equal to in person sessions, as established by regulations under section nine.
SECTION 7. NO WORK, NO PAY.
(a) Session noncompliance. If a chamber fails to meet the requirements of section four in any pay period, salaries for all its Members go into escrow prorated per day until compliance is restored, except during emergency suspensions under section five subsection (c) paragraph one. Escrow funds are handled as described in section six paragraph (b) subparagraph one.
(b) Deadlines.
1. Fiscal milestones. Failure to pass a full year budget resolution or all twelve regular appropriations bills by October first places all Member salaries in escrow until enactment.
2. Oversight milestones. Failure to file statutory oversight reports, including those required by FISA, the Congressional Budget Office, or inspector general acts, by their deadlines places Member salaries in escrow until the reports are filed.
3. Continuing resolutions. Salary escrow pauses during a continuing resolution but resumes if a full budget is not enacted within ninety days. Back pay is denied for the delay period.
(c) Exemptions. Escrow does not apply to staff salaries or operational funds. Staff pay remains fully payable from existing appropriations even when Member pay is escrowed.
(d) Long term incentives. Any Member with more than two quarters of noncompliance in a term is ineligible for cost of living adjustments until completing four consecutive compliant quarters.
SECTION 8. CONGRESSIONAL WORK REVIEW COMMISSION.
(a) Composition. A ten member Commission is established. Two members are appointed by each of the following: the House Speaker, the House Minority Leader, the Senate Majority Leader, and the Senate Minority Leader. Appointees must be United States citizens who are not federal employees, registered lobbyists, or elected officials. Terms are four years, staggered for continuity. Members may be removed only for cause, with written notice to both chambers and a public posting.
(b) Duties. The Commission shall:
1. Audit compliance with session days, recess limits, attendance, and milestones, including metrics such as bills passed, hearings held, and veto overrides;
2. Issue quarterly public reports on a dedicated website, in the Congressional Record, and via media notifications;
3. Provide individual compliance reports to the Federal Election Commission for inclusion in campaign finance disclosures under fifty two United States Code section three zero one zero one and following.
(c) Enforcement. The Commission may issue subpoenas enforceable in United States district court for attendance logs, payroll records, and committee calendars. Substantiated violations may be referred to the House Committee on Ethics or the Senate Select Committee on Ethics for sanctions including censure, fines, or expulsion recommendations.
(d) Operations. The Commission is funded through annual appropriations not exceeding two million dollars, with administrative support from the Government Accountability Office. The GAO audits the Commission annually. If Commission vacancies drop membership below seven for more than sixty days, the GAO assumes interim oversight and may draw on the same two million dollar appropriation. Meetings are public under the Federal Advisory Committee Act. Congressional or Commission staff who report falsified records or manipulations are protected under five United States Code section twenty three oh two.
SECTION 9. REGULATORY IMPLEMENTATION.
Within ninety days of enactment, the Clerk of the House and the Secretary of the Senate, in consultation with the Committee on House Administration and the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, shall issue binding regulations covering:
1. Remote participation protocols, including two factor biometric or cryptographic quorum verification, mandatory public livestream archives, and immutable time stamping of remote votes. Systems must meet or exceed the FedRAMP Moderate baseline and undergo annual third party penetration testing reported to the GAO and the Commission. All contracts, costs, and security certifications for remote participation platforms must be disclosed within thirty days of award;
2. Escrow mechanisms to guarantee timely withholding, release, and public reporting of Member salaries under sections six and seven;
3. Excuse validation processes for medical, family emergency, or official travel absences, including required documentation and deadlines;
4. Data tracking standards for Commission audits, requiring attendance, escrow, and calendar data to be posted in machine readable, downloadable formats such as CSV or JSON, accessible via a documented REST API, and archived for ten years.
Regulations must be published in the Federal Register and open to a thirty day public comment period.
SECTION 10. JUDICIAL REVIEW AND SEVERABILITY.
(a) Judicial review. Actions under this Act are reviewable in United States district courts solely for constitutional challenges, with expedited appeal to the Supreme Court. Either chamber may petition directly to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to enforce contempt when Members refuse Commission subpoenas.
(b) Severability. If any provision of this Act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the Act and its application to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected.
(c) Rule of construction. Nothing in this Act limits impeachment, expulsion, or other powers enumerated in Article One of the Constitution.
SECTION 11. SUNSET AND REVIEW.
This Act sunsets five years after its effective date unless Congress passes a joint resolution disapproving continuation. If no disapproval resolution passes, the Act is automatically reauthorized.
SECTION 12. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.
Within sixty legislative days of the effective date, the House of Representatives and the Senate shall revise their standing rules to conform with this Act, including rules on quorum calls and remote voting.
SECTION 13. FISCAL IMPACT.
The Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall publish a cost estimate of this Act within ninety days of enactment.
SECTION 14. PROGRESS AUDIT.
The Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct a progress audit of implementation twelve months after the effective date. Findings shall be referred to the Commission, the Committee on House Administration, and the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration.
SECTION 15. EFFECTIVE DATE.
This Act takes effect January one of the first calendar year that begins at least one hundred eighty days after enactment, allowing time for calendar adjustments.