# Has Congress ever voted to cut its OWN salary, benefits, budget, or staff? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 25, 2018, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-congress-ever-voted-to-cut-its-own-salary-benefits-budget-or-staff/816694 "2018-06-25T08:26:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@Lizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lizard)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-congress-ever-voted-to-cut-its-own-salary-benefits-budget-or-staff/816694/1 "2018-06-25T08:26:32Z")
I seriously doubt it, but am not sure how to go about researching such a broad, vague question. I think of it every time I see anyone IN Congress on TV talking about government waste and “Big Government” as a problem. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-congress-ever-voted-to-cut-its-own-salary-benefits-budget-or-staff/816694/2 "2018-06-25T08:33:27Z")
Yes, in 1932 and again in 1933. This was in the middle of the Great Depression. Not since. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-congress-ever-voted-to-cut-its-own-salary-benefits-budget-or-staff/816694/3 "2018-06-25T11:15:37Z")
[Office of Technology Assessment](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_of_Technology_Assessment) I’ve got an idea that there have been some other congress support offices that have been closed down. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-congress-ever-voted-to-cut-its-own-salary-benefits-budget-or-staff/816694/4 "2018-06-25T12:14:18Z")
Here’s a list of the pay of members of Congress over their history: > **[Salaries of members of the United States Congress](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salaries_of_members_of_the_United_States_Congress)** > > This chart shows historical information on the salaries that members of the United States Congress have been paid. The Government Ethics Reform Act of 1989 provides for an automatic increase in salary each year as a cost of living adjustment that reflects the employment cost index. Since 2010 Congress has annually voted not to accept the increase, keeping it at the same nominal amount since 2009. The Twenty-seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1992, prohibits an Addit... Notice that their pay, adjusted to 2014 dollars, has been between $130,741 and $270,697 since 1907. Since 1998, it’s been regularly adjusted to match inflation. Before then, it was more arbitrarily adjusted. Also note that until 1855 (with one exception) pay was per diem (i.e., based on the number of days Congress was in session), not an annual salary. Congress wasn’t in session that much until that point. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-congress-ever-voted-to-cut-its-own-salary-benefits-budget-or-staff/816694/5 "2018-06-25T12:30:13Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Since 1998, it’s been regularly adjusted to match inflation. However since 2009 successive Congresses have declined to apply the COLA. Also, ever since ratification of the 27th Amendment, any modification in fixed compensation for members of Congress does not take effect “until an election of Representatives shall have intervened.” I notice the limiting event is the election, NOT the swearing in – so you don’t make the change out of spite or cashing-in during a lame-duck session. ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-congress-ever-voted-to-cut-its-own-salary-benefits-budget-or-staff/816694/6 "2018-06-25T13:23:08Z")
There’s a very helpful chart (table 4.1) on page 82 in _Congress Responds to the Twentieth Century_ showing changes in staff numbers from 1891 to 2001… here’s a google books link: > **[Congress Responds to the Twentieth Century](https://books.google.com/books?id=qxgWsVuqzbYC&lpg=PA73&ots=jwVPLXuo1X&dq=%22Life%20and%20Work%20on%20the%20Hill%3A%20Careers%2C%20Norms%2C%20Staff%2C%20and%20Informal%20Caucuses%22&pg=PA82#v=onepage&q=%22Life%20and%20Work%20on%20the%20Hill:%20Careers,%20Norms,%20Staff,%20and%20Informal%20Caucuses%22&f=false)** > > Congress occupies a central place in the U.S. political system. Its reach into American society is vast and deep. Overtime, the issues it has confronted have increased in both quantity and complexity. At the beginning, Congress dealt with a handful... There are substantial decreases in staff numbers from 1987 to 1997 (a decrease of 5.4%) and again from 1997 to 2001 (a decrease of 6.3%) - these include the elimination of the Office of Technology Assessment that **Melbourne** mentioned as well as other changes. But the bias of the way the question is asked automatically assumes that the number of Congressional staff is directly correlated to waste, which is probably not the case. In fact, Robert Park has made a case that Congress’ continued elimination of staff has decreased the ability of Congress to monitor what happens in other parts of the government as oversight and the ability of Congress to get good information on questions it needs to address. Obviously, where Congressmen have hired relatives to serve as staff (I vaguely recall a couple cases of this), they’re probably not getting a benefit out of it, but the elimination of other professional staff has contributed to inaction on critical questions before Congress and reduced the ability of members to agree with each other and pass legislation effecting problems our society faces. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-congress-ever-voted-to-cut-its-own-salary-benefits-budget-or-staff/816694/7 "2018-06-25T14:27:34Z")
Not directly on topic, but the failure to get a budget deal in 2013 resulted in an across-the-board cut to domestic spending of roughly 8%, and the budget for Congress was cut by the same amount as other agencies. More directly to the point, the House Republicans since taking power in the 2010 elections embarked on a series of budget-cutting measures. eliminating around 10% of spending in the Legislative Branch over a couple years’ time. > **[News](https://appropriations.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=296112)** As I recall, these cuts jeopardized a project to renovate the Capitol Dome, which had fallen into disrepair such that occasionally a chunk of iron from the mid-19th century would make an unplanned rapid descent from its lofty heights. Ultimately, the repairs were funded and completed, however. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-congress-ever-voted-to-cut-its-own-salary-benefits-budget-or-staff/816694/8 "2018-06-25T14:31:47Z")
Note Congressional appropriations include the Library of Congress–which is the national library–and only a small fraction of its activities are for Congress. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-congress-ever-voted-to-cut-its-own-salary-benefits-budget-or-staff/816694/9 "2018-06-25T15:35:42Z")
Congress doesn’t really get a salary. It’s more of an honorarium. It’s wildly out of proportion to the office. Think of it this way. For many years, the \*average \*salary of a first-year graduate of a top law school has [exceeded the salary of Congress](https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-salary-for-fresh-graduates-from-Harvard-Stanford-Yale-Law-Schools) ($174,000). And those salaries go up every year while Congress’ stays the same. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-congress-ever-voted-to-cut-its-own-salary-benefits-budget-or-staff/816694/10 "2018-06-25T16:41:07Z")
Congress requires less staff now that lobbyists actually draft many of the bills. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-congress-ever-voted-to-cut-its-own-salary-benefits-budget-or-staff/816694/11 "2018-06-25T17:04:47Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Congress doesn’t really get a salary. It’s more of an honorarium. It’s wildly out of proportion to the office. > > Think of it this way… No think of it this way: when in Congress they get limited salaries; but the connections they developed in Congress means they get rich later. Remember poor Eric Cantor who lost his primary bid to a Tea Party guy: he quickly transformed that into a $3 million plus income from an investment banking firm (investment banking being something he knows nothing about–but the firm paid him for his connections): > **[Eric Cantor Lands $3.4 Million Investment Banking Job](https://www.newsweek.com/eric-cantor-lands-34-million-investment-banking-job-267924)** > > After losing his primary election to a Tea Party challenger, Eric Cantor announced he will join Wall Street Investment Bank Moelis & Co., where he will earn $3.4 million to start. Talk about failing up! ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-congress-ever-voted-to-cut-its-own-salary-benefits-budget-or-staff/816694/12 "2018-06-25T17:34:49Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > No think of it this way: when in Congress they get limited salaries; but the connections they developed in Congress means they get rich later. Remember poor Eric Cantor who lost his primary bid to a Tea Party guy: he quickly transformed that into a $3 million plus income from an investment banking firm (investment banking being something he knows nothing about–but the firm paid him for his connections): > [Eric Cantor Lands $3.4 Million Investment Banking Job](http://www.newsweek.com/eric-cantor-lands-34-million-investment-banking-job-267924) There’s truth to that, but I think a tougher question is more along the lines of, why would any staffer want to spend more than a few years being paid $60,000 a year to draft bills when they can be paid $150,000 a year to draft bills as a lobbyist. I believe this is probably less of a dilemma for member of Congress, who would typically have more complex motivations for being a politician that extend way beyond pay.