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.”
You know genuinely I don’t understand why this isn’t a thing. It’s expensive to have two homes, especially when you aren’t even sure you’ll have the job for more than four years. It would lower the cost of entry into politics for people who do work minimum wage.
Shoving someone into a land full of surprise expenses seems like a perfect recipe for corruption.
They could also just have an apartment, they don’t need a mansion in Virginia.
Even 2 apartments are expensive, I remember AOC was having trouble finding one in DC