Rank-and-file members of both the House and Senate are paid $174,000 a year.
That probably seems like a decent amount of money, and it is: The median household income in 2022 was $74,580, according to the US Census.
But consider that members of Congress generally have to maintain two residences — one in Washington, DC, and one in their home state — and that they haven’t gotten a raise since 2009.
Inflation, meanwhile, has eaten away at the value of that salary over time: If lawmakers’ salaries had kept pace with inflation, they would be paid over $250,000 today.
Rep. Patrick McHenry, a North Carolina Republican who served as the interim speaker of the House following Kevin McCarthy’s ouster, told The Dispatch that congressional pay needed to be raised in order to attract “credible people to run for office.”
They can literally print money freely via insider trading, which is why many of them are millionaires. “Don’t have wealth”??? k.
This crying for more taxpayer dollar handouts through one of their pet media rags garners no sympathy from me. Especially when many of them view their role as obstructionists who should prevent government from functioning entirely. It’s pathetic, they should fuck off to the geriatric ward if they don’t think the job pays enough.