About Us
When Congress doesn’t do its job and the government shuts down, regular people suffer.
Workers miss paychecks. Families worry about making ends meet. Critical services stop.
Somehow, members of Congress still get paid.
That’s wrong.
We are a social welfare organization working to change the rules so that if Congress shuts down the government, they don’t get paid either. If families have to feel the pain, Congress should too.
Our goal is simple: make Congress do its job, keep the government open, and treat the American people with respect.
Leadership
Jack Magruder, Executive Director, engages in strategic outreach with policymakers and non-profit organizations at the local, state, and national levels to build support for constitutional and statutory solutions on behalf of No Shutdown Pay for Congress.
Before leading No Shutdown Pay for Congress, Jack worked as a public affairs consultant, communicating around federal and state policy issues for a range of industries and interest groups. His experience includes advising non-profits, trade associations, and private companies on media relations, legislative messaging, and coalition management.
Jack is a native Washingtonian and holds a B.A. in American History from Washington and Lee University. Both of his grandfathers and his great-grandmother were longtime and dedicated National Institutes of Health (NIH) employees, which inspires his commitment to protecting critical government agencies and their employees from shutdowns.
Norman Understein is the Founding Director of No Shutdown Pay for Congress.
A lifelong Washingtonian, Understein has been an entrepreneur for over 50 years. He founded and led numerous companies under the USA Companies umbrella (www.usacompanies.com), starting with a 1967 publishing venture and expanding into medical, internet, hospitality, non-profit organizations, and other fields—many later sold or merged.
His early career included an internship with the 1964 Johnson-Humphrey campaign and advance work for President Lyndon B. Johnson. One of his companies helped produce the program magazine for the Kennedy Center’s opening (published then by the Saturday Review).
A 1966 Bradley University graduate (Journalism and Psychology), he was active in campus leadership roles and became a pilot in 1963 while a student. In 2016, he received the FAA’s Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award for sustained aviation excellence.
Understein has served on advisory boards for the AFI-Silver, Mark Twain House & Museum, and continues on Bradley University’s Turner School of Entrepreneurship advisory council, where he mentors students.
He is married with five children and eight grandchildren. As a director, he applies his entrepreneurial experience and lifelong civic engagement to the mission of aligning congressional incentives with the hardships shutdowns impose on federal workers and taxpayers.
Professional Engagements
Legal Counsel
Webster, Chamberlain, Bean, LLP, Washington, D.C.
Bregman, Berbert, Schwartz, and Gilday, LLC, Bethesda, Maryland
Business Advisory
1-Up IT, Middletown, Maryland
Online contributions to No Shutdown Pay For Congress, Inc. are not tax deductible for federal income tax purposes. If you wish to make a tax-deductible donation, please contact us regarding our 501(c)(3) sister organization, No Shutdown Pay For Congress Foundation.