Outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Friday raised the House’s “salary cap” for staffers to $212,100, which is $38,000 more than what their bosses make.
“As you know, our hard-working, patriotic Congressional staffers are integral to the functioning of the House of Representatives: ensuring this institution can effectively carry out our legislative and constituent responsibilities,” she said in a “Dear Colleague” letter addressed to all members of the House.
“To that end, we must do all we can to retain and recruit the best talent in our nation — and to build a Congressional workforce that reflects the communities we are honored to serve. It is my privilege as Speaker to announce that the House will raise the maximum annual rate of pay for staff to $212,100,” she added.
It was reportedly the last “Dear Colleague” letter of her speakership, as she’ll be stepping down as speaker at the end of the year.
House Speaker Pelosi in her final 2022 Dear Colleague letter:”This work must continue into the 118th Congress & beyond, as we carry on our dutiful stewardship of this historic institution..Best wishes to you & your loved ones for a Happy, Healthy New Yr!” https://t.co/ptErGhqis8
— Craig Caplan (@CraigCaplan) December 30, 2022
Members of Congress reportedly earn $174,000 annually, and so thanks to Pelosi’s orders, their own staffers can now theoretically earn even more than them.
This marks the second time this year that the speaker has raised the salary cap. In a separate “Dear Colleague” letter published in May, she raised it by about $5,000.
“The House of Representatives is strengthened by the many contributions of brilliant, dedicated and hard-working staff, who every day enable us best serve the American people. As Speaker, I have been proud to take steps to help bring a diversity of backgrounds and perspectives to every level of service in these hallowed halls – so that the Congress has access to the best talent in the nation and that our institution better reflects the people whom we serve,” this letter reads.
“These actions include steps we have taken over the last two Congress to improve staff retention and diversity in the House. These steps include establishing the House Office of Diversity and Inclusion as well as a new pay order last August to raise the maximum annual rate of pay for staff to $199,300, which we will now increase to $203,700 to match the Senate’s increase,” it continues.
The “actions” or “steps” also included instituting the first-ever minimum pay for staffers.
“I am pleased to announce that, pursuant to the statutory authority of the Speaker in 2 U.S.C. 4532, the House will for the first time ever set the minimum annual pay for staff at $45,000. The deadline to implement this new Pay Order is September 1, 2022, and additional guidance is forthcoming,” the letter reads.
In a letter to Congress: https://t.co/G7VthsLgES @SpeakerPelosi announced
1) Congressional staff will be paid at least $45,000, beginning in September 2022
2) She will bring @RepAndyLevin’s resolution recognizing Congressional workers’ right to unionize up for a vote next week. pic.twitter.com/z7N0dqxXd5— Alex Howard (@digiphile) May 6, 2022
While staffers are likely pleased by the raises, members of the public — who’ve spent years at this point beset by high inflation and exorbitant gas prices — aren’t as excited.
If anything, many members of the public appear to resent the extraordinarily high salary cap for congressional staffers and wonder why members of Congress seem to care more about their staffers than about the American people.
Case in point:
What a slap to the American people. They don’t care about the taxpayers
— TheRealNEPAWB (@NEPAW_B) December 31, 2022
So these government workers get $212,000 a year while ones on Social Security can get as little as $10,000 and maxes out at around $20,000.
Something is messed up there
— Michael (@MovieFanMan75) December 31, 2022
Oh good, now they can get paid even more to not do anything! And with the debt growing astonishingly fast, let us once more increase government expenditure well beyond what is sustainable.
— Cynic of the US (@CynicoftheUS) December 31, 2022
Meanwhile I had to put shit back on the store shelf today because it rose since I last bought it, now no longer in my budget. Reckon that smoked crab salad would’ve gone good with that french bread… which also had to go back.
— Surge Soucy (@Surge__Plays) December 31, 2022
Goodness looking after themselves & when anyone discusses minimum wage should be no lower than 20 dollars an hour they don’t say nothing sensible in support of the people that vote for them.
These guys don’t do anything to help the poor folks.
Only for themselves really
— Lester Zoom Headley (@ZoomLester) December 31, 2022
Prior to Pelosi instituting a minimum pay rule, congressional Democrats and Republicans had been allowed to pay their staffers as much as they chose.
As a result, many were reportedly underpaid, according to findings from the group Issue One.
“Overall, Issue One found one out of eight congressional offices were not paying wages that are comparable to the cost of living in Washington, D.C. The report estimated that there were roughly 1,200 congressional staffers making less than $42,610 annually,” Fox News reported Friday.
Republished with permission from American Wire News Service
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V. Saxena is a staff writer for BizPac Review with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University.
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