Congressional pay has been stalled at $174,000 since 2008 as lawmakers have routinely forgone annual raises. However, that princely sum in economic hard times isn’t likely to drop, either,
The Washington Post reported.
Several member of Congress have proposed pay cuts but leaders have not shown any interest in bringing them to the floor. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Wash., has introduced legislation to cut the pay of House and Senate members and the president and vice president by 10 percent. She’s only gotten one co-sponsor.
“It’s more uphill than I expected,” she told the Post. “To me it seemed like a no-brainer idea.”
Other bills to cut pay, institute unpaid furloughs, change the retirement plan for lawmakers, and eliminate automatic raises have all gone nowhere. “I don’t think it will get out of committee,” Rep. Moran Griffith, R-Va., said of his bill that would cut pay by 10 percent beginning in 2013, the Post reported. “I would hope that it would.”
Regardless, many members of Congress believe they deserve the high salary. They are routinely highly educated professionals who often must maintain two households, one in their home district and one in Washington, the Post reported.
© 2013 Newsmax. All rights reserved.