Show Up to Work Like Everyone Else Act

Section 1. Short Title and Declaration of Scheduling Emergency

This Act may be cited as the “Show Up to Work Like Everyone Else Act” or the “Your Boss Would Have Fired You by Now Act of 2026.”

Congress finds, on one of the approximately 147 days per year it is present to find anything:

(a) The United States House of Representatives is in session approximately 147 days per year. The average American worker is at work approximately 260 days per year. This is a difference of 113 days, which Congress has designated as “district work periods” and the rest of America calls “not showing up.”

(b) Members of Congress receive a base salary of $174,000 per year. Divided by 147 in-session days, this comes to approximately $1,183 per day. Divided by 260 days like everyone else, it would be $669 per day. Congress has elected to use the higher number.

(c) The 118th Congress was among the least productive in modern history, passing fewer than 150 bills in two years. Adjusted for days in session, this is approximately one bill passed per two days of work, though “work” is used loosely here.

(d) The DCCC has advised freshmen members to spend four hours per day making fundraising calls from a call center across the street from the Capitol, which is not legislating by any known definition.

(e) The average American receives approximately 11 days of paid vacation per year. Congress takes approximately 218 days off per year. The ratio is 19.8:1 in favor of Congress.

Section 2. The Attendance Requirement

2(a). Minimum In-Session Days

Congress shall be in session no fewer than 260 days per calendar year, matching the standard American work year of 52 weeks minus weekends. This shall include:

• At least 8 hours of legislative activity per in-session day
• No more than 10 federal holidays per year (same as the private sector)
• A maximum of 15 days of personal leave, to be requested in advance via the PTO Request Portal described in Section 5

2(b). Definition of “In Session”

For the purposes of this Act, “in session” means actually conducting legislative business. The following do not count:

1. Pro forma sessions lasting under 30 seconds
2. Sessions called solely to prevent recess appointments
3. The reading of the daily prayer followed by immediate adjournment
4. Any session in which the only action is agreeing to adjourn

Section 3. The Attendance Clock

3(a). Installation

Every member of Congress shall have installed in their office, visible to all visitors and C-SPAN cameras, a Congressional Attendance Clock displaying:

• Total days in session this year
• Total days absent
• Current salary-per-day calculation
• A running comparison to the average American work schedule

3(b). Public Dashboard

The Clerk of the House and the Secretary of the Senate shall maintain a publicly accessible Attendance Dashboard at attendance.congress.gov, updated in real time, displaying each member’s:

• Days present vs. days absent
• Hours spent in committee hearings
• Hours spent on the floor
• The ratio of legislating time to fundraising time, to the extent it can be determined

Section 4. The Salary-Per-Day Transparency Requirement

4(a). Constituent Communications

All official communications from a member of Congress to their constituents — including newsletters, franked mail, and social media posts — shall include the member’s effective daily salary, calculated as:

$174,000 / [actual days present] = [effective daily rate]

For a member present all 147 scheduled days, this is $1,183/day. For a member present 100 days, this is $1,740/day. For a member present 50 days, this is $3,480/day. The committee notes that the less members work, the more they effectively earn per day, which is the opposite of how employment works for everyone else.

4(b). Comparison Chart

Each member’s annual report to constituents shall include a chart comparing:

Metric	Congress	Average American
Work days/year	~147	~260
Days off/year	~218	~105
Salary	$174,000	$59,384 (median)
Effective daily rate	$1,183	$228
Vacation days	~218	~11
Performance review	Every 2 years (election)	Annually

Section 5. The Fundraising vs. Legislating Ratio

5(a). Time Disclosure

Members shall publicly disclose the number of hours per week spent on:

1. Legislative activity (hearings, votes, constituent services, reading bills)
2. Fundraising (call time, donor meetings, fundraising events)
3. Other (media appearances, travel, “district work” that is not measurably productive)

5(b). The Four-Hour Rule

If the DCCC’s reported guidance of four hours per day of fundraising call time is accurate, then a member working an eight-hour day spends 50% of their time asking for money. This section requires that any member spending more than 25% of their working hours on fundraising shall have the phrase “Part-Time Legislator” appended to their official title.

Section 6. The PTO Request Protocol

6(a). Leave Requests

Any member of Congress wishing to be absent from session shall submit a formal Paid Time Off Request to the Speaker of the House or the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, including:

• Reason for absence
• Expected duration
• A plan for how their constituents will be represented in their absence
• Acknowledgment that their constituents do not get 218 days off

6(b). Approval Process

PTO requests exceeding 15 days per year shall require:

• Approval from the member’s committee chair
• Publication on the Attendance Dashboard
• A notation in the Congressional Record reading: “[Member name] has requested additional time off. Their current attendance rate is [X]%. The national average is [Y]%.”

Section 7. Effective Date and Scheduling Paradox

This Act shall take effect at the beginning of the next Congress, assuming Congress is in session long enough to pass it, which current scheduling trends suggest is not guaranteed.

Committee Note: The Committee on Showing Up convened once, on February 14, 2026. Quorum was not initially achieved because half the committee members were at a fundraiser. Once quorum was reached, the committee voted to table the bill and adjourn for the Presidents’ Day recess. The irony was noted by the bill’s sponsor, the committee clerk, and C-SPAN’s audience of approximately eleven people.

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This bill received 0 yea votes and 435 nay votes, making it the only bill in the 119th Congress to achieve perfect bipartisan opposition. When asked for comment, the bill’s sponsor stated: “I’m not surprised. I am, however, impressed that all 435 members managed to show up for this particular vote. If only they showed that kind of commitment to everything else.” The vote took place on a Thursday afternoon. Congress adjourned for recess the following morning.