Freshmen members of Congress for the 119th Congress stand on the House steps of the U.S. Capitol on November 15, 2024, in Washington, D.C.
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Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are one step closer to getting their first pay raise in 15 years in a pre-Christmas bill to keep the government funded through the spring.
tucked in invoice The sentence would have deleted language from previous legislation preventing automatic pay increases for lawmakers from taking effect, which was first reported by Bloomberg.
But the bill has been criticized for being too broad in size and scope, and its content has been the subject of misinformation — including the size of lawmakers’ cost-of-living increases.
“How can this be called a ‘continuing resolution’ if it includes a 40% increase in Congressional salaries?” he asked. to publish President-elect Donald Trump’s senior advisor Elon Musk, who has a net worth of more than $400 billion.
In fact, the bill would have made members eligible for a cost-of-living increase of just 3.8%, or roughly $6,600.
“I was surprised when I heard my salary was $240,000, which was news to me,” Rep. Don Bacon, Republican of Nebraska, mused at the time.
Congressional pay for rank-and-file members is $174,000 and has not been adjusted since 2009.
Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., said he thinks it’s reasonable for lawmakers to get equal treatment with the rest of the federal workforce, which receives cost-of-living increases.
“We cannot operate as if there is no inflation in the world,” Torres told NPR. “It turns out that members of Congress are vulnerable to the impact of inflation too – who would have thought?”
Political reaction
A Statute of 1989 It includes an automatic cost-of-living wage increase linked to the Employment Cost Index, but Congress has long blocked that increase from taking effect.
According to Congressional Research ServiceIf members of Congress had received these salary adjustments since 1992, their 2024 salaries would be $243,300.
“When adjusted for inflation, members’ salaries were down 31% from 2009, when they last received a pay raise,” said Brandis Kanis-Rooney, a political science professor at Stanford University.
“We now pay members of Congress relatively less than comparable positions in the executive branch,” she said in an interview. “And their salaries have fallen much more than private sector salaries in comparable positions.” “Members of Congress are expected to maintain two dorms, or sleep on the floor in their offices and return to their district.”
The Constitution directs Congress to set its wages, but Kanz-Rooney said giving pay raises to adjust for inflation has become somewhat of a political third line, with members worried about political backlash for giving themselves a raise.
“It allows your competitor or any outside actor to say, ‘Oh, members are just enriching themselves,'” she said.
But former Rep. Reed Ripple, who served in the House from 2011 to 2016, said stagnant salaries have real consequences for the makeup of Congress itself.
“He changes makeup a lot,” the Wisconsin Republican said in an interview. “We have a real disincentive for people to run for Congress unless you’re a fairly wealthy person. People think $174,000 is a lot of money — and if you’re making $50,000 to $60,000, it will seem that way. But getting that amount Detached is a place to live and providing amenities in an expensive city, you spend that money very quickly.”
A Last change It allows members to claim reimbursement for certain housing expenses, with the aim of helping those struggling to maintain two homes.
But Ripple, now retired, said the change still doesn’t address how salaries lag behind the rate of inflation.
“You want Congress to look like the American people. So you need young people and old people, men and women, people of every race and religion, and every income class in the country so that it more accurately represents what the American people look like,” he said. “The more expensive it is to live in D.C.,” he said. “The less likely you are to have people to do it.”
Ultimately, Congress funded the government with various legislation. When the initial bill collapsed, so did any expected plans to increase lawmakers’ pay.