A House panel advanced a bill to fund the Legislative Branch, leaving open the possibility of a pay raise for members of Congress. The House Appropriations Legislative Branch Subcommittee advanced its fiscal 2025 funding bill. It’s set for a full committee markup June 13.

The measure doesn’t include a rider to block an automatic pay increase for members of Congress, which lawmakers have consistently included in final funding bills since their last raise in 2009. Rank-and-file members make $174,000 a year, with a handful of leaders receiving more.

Lawmakers are supposed to get automatic cost-of-living adjustments every year, but they’ve consistently blocked their own pay bumps every year since their last raise in 2009. 

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor, the average U.S. annual salary in Q4 of 2023 was $59,384. Rank-and-file members of the House and Senate are paid a $174,000 annual salary.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is joining calls for members of Congress to get a pay raise. "Everyone working in government should be paid more: members of Congress and their staffs. Congress should not be the plaything of multimillionaires and billionaires who've already secured their fortunes and don't care about earning a living to support their families. I understand that no one wants to waste taxpayer dollars, but Congress needs to be more realistic about what it takes to attract the top people to public service across the board, and how to keep them engaged throughout their careers."

“It’s an easy issue to demagogue — ‘Oh, Hoyer wanted to give himself a raise,’” Hoyer said. “I don’t want to give myself a raise. If I wanted a raise, I’d quit Congress and go earn a million dollars, or more.”

House Appropriations top Democrat Rosa DeLauro (CT) said members are still pushing for the cost-of-living adjustment to be allowed in this year’s funding package. The automatic increase has been blocked as part of the Legislative Branch appropriations bill in recent years. 

"For years, pay and benefits for the staff of Member offices, leadership offices, and committees have fallen farther and farther behind what is offered in the private sector. At the same time, the cost of living here in our nation’s capital has risen substantially, placing opportunities such as homeownership, rental housing, and childcare out of reach for many," said Rosa DeLauro.

Patrick McHenry (R-NC): “You can’t have the executive branch and the judicial branch on a higher pay scale than Congress. That is absurd and really stupid for Congress to disadvantage themselves in this game of checks and balances. Most of us live on the salary. And then, you know, the very wealthy few end up dominating the news because of their personal stock trades when most of us don’t have wealth. You especially need the staff to be able to go toe-to-toe with the people they’re regulating or overseeing in the executive branch, which means you need to get the highest quality folks.”

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT): “You have quite a number of members of Congress that sleep in their offices. In this day and age, it makes sense to have people that feel that they can serve, and still be able to sleep in a home at night."

"I came to Washington to make government work for Minnesotans, bring down the price of healthcare and prescription drugs, and expand economic opportunity for farmers and small businesses in my district," said Rep. Craig (D-MN). "With Minnesota families seeing stagnant or falling wages for far too long, taking a pay raise at taxpayer expense is just wrong. I will not support this pay increase for Members of Congress."

“If we are going to have a vote on a pay raise for a Member of Congress, we ought to have guts enough to stand up and cast a vote, yes or no,” said Sen. Grassley (R-IA). 

Rep. Colin Allred (D-TX): “I was raised by a single mom, and I know what families face when they have to clip coupons or budget so they can make it to the end of the month. Now is not the time to raise the pay for Members of Congress.

“Whether it is growing our economy, lowering the high cost of child care or addressing the fact Texas has the highest uninsured rate in the country – there are plenty of things Congress should focus on instead of raising our pay.

“I oppose this measure and I think Congressional leaders should remove this proposed pay raise from the Appropriations bill and focus instead on investing in the American people.”  

Rep. David Schweikert (R-AZ): “I sort of wish we were paid according to our work product — right now we would pretty much be paid zero. And the reality is, we're still paid better than most Americans.”

Sen. JD Vance (R-OH): “I strongly agree with the idea of paying congressional staffers more. Staff are always going to get poached by a lobbying firm, because we can't possibly compete with their salary…This is public service; you're not going to make a lot of money serving in Congress. If you're going to serve in the United States Senate, you probably should accomplish something before you get here.”

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA): “People who make great contributions to America don't do it for the money. I think we can attract talent without the finances.”