Salaries of Members of Congress: Recent Actions and Historical Tables

Ida A. Brudnick
Analyst on the Congress

Congress is required by Article I, Section 6, of the Constitution to determine its own pay. Prior to 1969, Congress did so by enacting stand-alone legislation. From 1789 through 1968, Congress raised its pay 22 times using this procedure. Members were initially paid per diem. The first annual salaries, in 1815, were $1,500. Per diem pay was reinstituted in 1817. Congress returned to annual salaries, at a rate of $3,000, in 1855. By 1968, pay had risen to $30,000. Stand-alone legislation may still be used to raise Member pay, as it was most recently in 1982, 1983, 1989, and 1991; but two other methods—including an automatic annual adjustment procedure and a commission process—are now also available.

The Ethics Reform Act of 1989 established the current formula for automatic annual adjustments, which is based on changes in private sector wages and salaries as measured by the Employment Cost Index. The adjustment goes into effect automatically unless denied statutorily by Congress, although the percentage may not exceed the percentage base pay increase for General Schedule employees.

Under this formula, Members were originally scheduled to receive a 0.9% pay adjustment in 2011. This adjustment would have equaled a $1,600 increase, resulting in a salary of $175,600. The pay adjustment was prohibited by P.L. 111-165 (H.R. 5146), which was enacted on May 14, 2010. Additionally, P.L. 111-322, which was enacted on December 22, 2010, prevented any adjustment in GS base pay before December 31, 2012. Since the percent adjustment in Member pay may not exceed the percent adjustment in the base pay of GS employees, Member pay is also frozen during this period. Pay for Members of Congress in 2011 and 2012 will remain at the 2009 and 2010 level of $174,000.

Previously, a provision in the FY2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act prohibited any pay adjustment for 2010. Members were originally scheduled to receive a pay adjustment in January 2010 of 2.1%, although this would have been revised automatically to 1.5% to match the GS base pay adjustment. Members last received a pay adjustment in January 2009, increasing their salary to $174,00 from $169,300 (2.8%). In 2008, Members originally were scheduled to receive a 2.7% pay adjustment. The adjustment was revised downward to 2.5% to match the percent increase in the base pay of General Schedule (GS) employees. Congress previously voted to deny the scheduled annual adjustment for 2007.

This report contains information on the pay procedure and recent adjustments. It also contains historical information on the rate of pay for Members of Congress since 1789; the adjustments projected by the Ethics Reform Act as compared to actual adjustments in Member pay; details on past legislation enacted with language prohibiting the annual pay adjustment; and Member pay in constant and current dollars since 1992. For additional information on actions taken in Congress since the enactment of the Ethics Reform Act adjustment procedure, see CRS Report 97-615, Salaries of Members of Congress: Congressional Votes, 1990-2011, by Ida A. Brudnick.

Retirement benefits for Members of Congress vary depending on retirement plan, age, and length of service. For additional information, see CRS Report RL30631, Retirement Benefits for Members of Congress, by Katelin P. Isaacs.


Date of Report: September 7, 2011
Number of Pages: 13
Order Number: 97-1011
Price: $29.95

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