(Tony Sifert, Headline USA) Despite a 7.9% inflation rate and the Fed’s quarter-point interest rate hike, Congress has seen fit to give itself a massive raise.
The House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a $1.5 trillion omnibus spending bill (read all 2,741 pages here!) that includes $1.1 billion for Senate salaries and operations and $774.4 million for House Members Representational Allowance (MRA), which, according to Roll Call, “funds the House office budgets for lawmakers, including staffer salaries.”
The 21% increase in the Members Representational Allowance “marks the largest increase in the MRA appropriation,” Roll Call reported.
While we’re all suffering, Congress just passed a $134.4 million, or 21% increase to their own allowances, the largest since it was authorized in 1996, according to the House Appropriations Committee. #votethemallout https://t.co/sJl6IM9Vxk
— Douglas Karr (@douglaskarr) March 12, 2022
The Senate Committee on Appropriations claimed that its raise was required “in order for the Senate to do its job serving the American people,” and suggested each Senator requires at least $70,000 per year to pay his interns.
This means that the least popular Congress in the history of the United States — Gallup showed Congress had a dismal 20% approval rating in its latest poll — will also be the best paid.
Not to be outdone, Speaker Nancy Pelosi‘s Praetorian Guard, the Capitol Police, will receive $602.5 million, nearly $90 million more than last year.
“This bill is essential to keeping our democracy and the legislative branch of government functioning in a safe and accessible manner,” Senator Jack Reed, D-R. I., said in a statement.
“At a time when the U.S. Capitol and the Capitol Police continue to operate amidst immense challenges, this agreement ensures they have the resources and staffing to protect the Capitol complex,” he said.
Another beloved institution, the Internal Revenue Service, will be given an $675 million increase in its funding — bringing its full allocation to $12.6 billion.
“The IRS will receive an extra $675 million (5.6% raise) as a reward for its awful taxpayer service,” the Wall Street Journal editorial board wrote. “Don’t expect this ransom payment to fix the agency.”
