Pay and Benefits of Members of Congress

Rank-and-file members of the House and Senate are paid 174,000 dollars a year, a rate unchanged since January 2009. The Speaker of the House earns 223,500 dollars, and the majority and minority leaders of both chambers and the President pro tempore of the Senate earn 193,400 dollars. The Ethics Reform Act of 1989 provides an automatic annual adjustment based on private-sector wage growth, but Congress has blocked it every year since 2010, so members' pay has lost much of its value to inflation. The Twenty-seventh Amendment delays any change in pay until after the next House election.

Members may not accept fees for speeches, and their outside earned income is capped at roughly 15 percent of a high-level executive branch salary, though income from investments, book royalties, and family businesses is not capped. Each House member receives an office budget of about 2 million dollars a year for staff, district offices, travel, and mail, and senators' budgets are larger and vary with state population. Since 2014 members and many of their staff have bought health coverage through the District of Columbia's Affordable Care Act exchange, with the government paying an employer share.

Members are covered by the Federal Employees Retirement System, with a slightly higher accrual rate than most employees. They become eligible for a pension at 62 with five years of service, at 50 with 20 years, or at any age with 25 years, and the pension may not exceed 80 percent of final salary. They also pay into Social Security and may save in the Thrift Savings Plan. Members are paid during government shutdowns because their salaries come from a permanent appropriation. Some argue that frozen pay discourages people without independent wealth from serving, while others say members are already well paid compared with most Americans.