Secret rule change will see House lawmakers get a $34,000 pay raise

In one of their final acts in office, House Democrats secretly approved a rule change that will see House lawmakers get a $34,000 pay raise.

The new rule, proposed by Democrats in the House Administration Committee, allows House members to be reimbursed for the cost of room, board and travel while on official business in Washington DC.

It got into the internal rules of the House, instead of in the bills of annual expenses, and therefore it was not debated in the plenary session of the House, according to the New York Times.

In fact, many rank-and-file House members weren’t even aware of the change until Tuesday, just two weeks after former Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced a similar pay increase for House staff.

Advocates say the new increase is necessary to increase the pool of people who could afford to serve in Congress, but Republicans say the “underground” rule should have been the subject of public debate.

The House Administration Committee, then headed by California Democrat Zoe Lofgren, approved the refund on December 30, 2022, with no lawmakers on the panel opposing the change.

Under the new rule, House members could receive a subsidy of about $34,000 for their expenses in DC, where they live for weeks. That means that if the current 440 members and delegates requested the maximum amount, the refunds would come to around $15.1 million.

In Congress, the General Services Administration caps spending at a daily rate. The GSA Daily Accommodation per day it varies between $190 and $260 depending on the season.

Per diem for food is currently $79 per day, which means that a legislator in DC on congressional business could spend up to around $340 per day.

The money for these expenses would come from the Representative’s Representation Assignment, the account that covers official expenses, according to Bloomberg.

But in an email obtained by DailyMail.com, congressional offices were asked to hold off filing their reimbursement expenses until the committee could offer more guidance.

Chamber members already earn an annual salary of $174,000 and receive a host of benefits for their service.

House members already earn an annual salary of $174,000, an amount set in 2009 that hasn’t changed since the cost of living rose.

In addition, House members get annual appropriations averaging $1.27 million to staff and run their offices as they see fit, and while members of Congress are required to purchase insurance under the Affordable Care Act Price, receive a subsidy amounting to 72 percent of their premiums, according to Axios.

Federal legislators are also eligible for lifetime health insurance under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program.

And depending on the member’s age and length of service, he or she could also receive a lifetime pension of 80 percent of his or her salary, which amounts to $139,200 a year.

But, in advocating for the rule change, the Select Committee on Congressional Modernization suggested that a pay increase would attract more people to serve in Congress.

“Unlike their counterparts in the executive branch and the private sector, members do not receive per diem or reimbursement for their out-of-pocket expenses when working in Washington,” the committee noted in its final report.

Former Congressman Mo Brooks, an Alabama Republican, criticized the decision to pass the measure without discussion on the House floor.

Some legislators, especially younger ones, have complained about the cost of paying for a place in the nation’s capital.

Some legislators have complained that it is difficult for them to maintain two residences on a salary from Congress. Others have noted that they still earn much more than the average American.

‘Ppl trap on congressional salary’ and it’s easy to score political points on it, but many don’t know that it requires paying 2 rent, you can’t deduct labor costs, etc. The result is grand gestures to promote that they/staff aren’t getting COLA Adjustments, but then trading stock to make up for it, worse! Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York wrote on Twitter in December 2021.

And last month, Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost, a newly elected Florida Democrat, tweeted: ‘I just applied for an apartment in DC where I told the guy my credit was really bad. He said it would be fine.

“I was denied, I lost the application fee,” he wrote. “This is not meant for people who don’t have money yet.”

He later said, “I also recognize that I’m speaking from a point of privilege because in two years my credit will be good because of my new salary.”

The committee suggested that raising lawmakers’ salaries would lessen “polarization” because “more candidates are willing to run for office if they see public service as an economically viable career.”

But former Rep. Mo Brooks, an Alabama Republican, said he was upset that the increase was not discussed in the House.

“You can have a good public policy debate about whether congressmen should be paid more to attract a better constituency, and you can have a reasonable debate about adjusting for inflation, but it really needs to be done in public,” he said.

“That’s my biggest problem, that it was an underground secret.”