If Congress passes a large stopgap budget plan to prevent a partial government shutdown, members will receive their first pay boost since 2009.
According to a September analysis by the independent Congressional Research Service, a 1989 legislation established automatic annual cost-of-living adjustments for Congress; however, since 2009, a clause has been placed in every funding measure to prevent the increases from taking effect.
Such a clause is absent from the 1,500-page bill that was released Tuesday night to fund the government through mid-March.
The most current funding package did not have the clause, as first reported by Bloomberg Government.
At least $174,000 is paid to members of Congress, with additional funds allotted for certain leadership roles. Wages in the private sector are used to determine a cost-of-living rise. According to the CRS study, the highest permitted for the upcoming year is 3.8%, which would raise the base pay to $180,600.
When taking inflation into account, members’ compensation has decreased by an effective 31% since 2009, according to CRS.
However, because automatic raises are unpopular with voters, most Congresses have introduced legislation to prevent them.
Maine Democrat Jared Golden, who has used a populist stance to win elections in a swing district, declared he would oppose the entire funding bill, known as a continuing resolution, or CR, due to the absence of a block on the pay increase and another provision in the spending bill that would grant members access to the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program.
Golden said in a statement on Wednesday that Congress should be working to increase American salaries and reduce health care costs rather than surreptitiously slipping additional member benefits into legislation that must be passed. Members should look for other employment if they are unable to make ends meet with our already substantial pay and benefits. I will vote against the CR as long as these clauses are in it.
The increase comes as billionaires Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy have been tasked by Republicans, who are set to seize unified control of the elected branches of government next year, with proposing $2 trillion in spending cuts that, if implemented, would result in job losses among federal employees and associated industries.
Members have been persuaded to oppose the interim bill by both Musk and Ramaswamy. Musk has cited the wage raise, but he has misrepresented its magnitude.
Given that it includes a 40% pay rise for Congress, how can this be referred to as a continuing resolution? Musk wrote a post to his company, X.
The bill includes full funding to rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Maryland, $100 billion for relief efforts from natural disasters over the past two years, and a provision to allow year-round sales of a gasoline blend that contains up to 15% ethanol, all while maintaining the majority of federal spending at the same level.
Lawmakers must pass a funding bill before midnight Friday to avoid a partial shutdown.
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