1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Troops Before Politicians Act . 2. Withholding of pay of Members of Congress in certain cases (a) Holding salaries in escrow If on any day during a pay period members of the Armed Forces, including the reserve components thereof, who perform active service during such period are not receiving amounts of pay due to such members, including as a result of a lapse in appropriations for a fiscal year, the payroll administrator of a House of Congress shall— (1) withhold the payments otherwise required to be made during the period for the compensation of each Member of Congress who serves in that House of Congress; and (2) deposit in an escrow account all amounts withheld under paragraph (1). (b) Release of amounts held in escrow (1) Release The payroll administrator of a House of Congress shall release for payments to Members of that House of Congress any amounts in any escrow account under this subsection as soon as practicable after the date that the lapse in pay described in subsection (a) terminates. (2) Special rule for One Hundred Eighteenth Congress In order to ensure that this section is carried out in a manner that shall not vary the compensation of Senators or Representatives in violation of the twenty-seventh article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States, the payroll administrator of a House of Congress shall release for payments to Members of that House of Congress any amounts remaining in any escrow account under this subsection on the last day of the One Hundred Eighteenth Congress. (c) Role of Secretary of the Treasury The Secretary of the Treasury shall provide the payroll administrators of the Houses of Congress with such assistance as may be necessary to enable the payroll administrators to carry out this Act. (d) Definitions In this section— (1) the terms active service and Armed Forces have the meanings given such terms in section 101 of title 10, United States Code