Congress gave itself a $34,000 tax-free pay increase — with little fanfare: report

Congress negotiated a little-noticed change to the rules in December, changing how members are reimbursed in a way that amounts to as much as a $34,000 tax-free pay increase, The New York Times reported on Thursday.

"For the past dozen years, House members have declined to take a cost-of-living increase in the annual spending bills, fearful of a political backlash if they were seen to give themselves a raise," reported Stephanie Lai and Reid J. Epstein. "But the provision, tucked into internal rules that typically receive little attention from the public and without any open debate on Capitol Hill, could amount to a subsidy of about $34,000 per member this year, according to an estimate based on current government reimbursement rates. That would be a substantial increase for lawmakers who spend weeks on end in the nation’s capital, where living costs are among the highest in the United States."

"The new rule, proposed by Democrats on the House Administration Committee, was approved with no objection in December, but rank-and-file members were not informed widely about it until Tuesday," said the report. "In an email sent by the chief administrative officer of the House, which was obtained by The New York Times and reported earlier by Bloomberg News, congressional offices were advised not to submit reimbursement requests for rental and housing costs until the committee issued additional guidance."

The story was first reported by Bloomberg on Tuesday.

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Rank-and-file senators and representatives currently receive $174,000 a year in base pay; however, the House Speaker, Senate President Pro Tempore, and party leaders have higher salaries.

This comes after the United States went through the worst period of inflation since the 1970s, driven in large part by disruptions to the global energy market. Wages in the private sector have been rising in response — meaning the real value of congressional compensation has been eroding.

Members of Congress approving wage hikes for themselves has long been a political flashpoint. The Bill of Rights was originally supposed to contain an amendment barring congressional pay increases from taking effect until the next session, to discourage members from spending on themselves too aggressively; however, that amendment wasn't ratified until 1992, when it became the Twenty-Seventh Amendment. Wealthier people running for Congress have sometimes promised to refuse to accept congressional pay if elected.

However, some good-governance experts have argued members of Congress should be paid more. Some argue this allows them to also give raises to their staffers, not all of whom are rich. Others have argued current congressional salaries are not enough to comfortably afford a residence in Washington, D.C. plus one in their own district, which means only people who are rich to begin with can afford to run for Congress.