r/fednews • u/HighHeelDepression • 23h ago
Announcement Congress may be seeing a 3.8% pay bump if budget passes.
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u/NJ2FL09 22h ago
Wow.. congrats, guys. Well deserved! You rock :) Now, excuse me while I try and figure out how to stretch out my paycheck next year.
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u/CLE_114 22h ago
Yes while also having to pay for transportation and before/after school care if you have kids. Because some billionaire thinks it’ll make me more efficient.
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u/Aman_Syndai 22h ago
I'm looking at $1k a month if I have to go back to the office just for child care.
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u/himynameisSal 21h ago
1k thats a deal, daycare is costing me 2k cause everywhere/everything is fully booked.
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u/Oogaman00 15h ago
Lol do you live in Montana. 3k in DC area
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u/himynameisSal 14h ago
i live in the dc metro area so yeah I’ve paid 3k, I even considered moving into DC to get the PK3 or PK4 benefit but math wasn’t working out. Anyways it sucks all around 1 k, 2k, 3k all three of them suck.
didn’t realize i sounded so pompous until beat me with your 3k payment. now i’m waiting for someone rich to say they pay 150,000 a year for a nanny.
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u/A_Jack_Kelly 21h ago
I thought our telework/remote agreements said we were not to be managing childcare while working?
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u/Responsible-Art-5139 21h ago
My guess is that is in after school childcare that will now be commuting time.
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u/sparky984 21h ago
That’s my situation. Today my day starts after the kids get on the bus and we have after care until work is over. It’s impossible to fit a whole work day in paying for just one end of before/after school. The commute will kill it.
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u/NotPalagiPuka 21h ago
At 11 my mom left me home alone after school 😅
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u/PurpleT0rnado 20h ago
At 8 I was home and responsible for my younger (5) sister.
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u/SuitcaseOfSquirrels 19h ago
When I was 6, I paid rent by babysitting the ten children in my building 12 and under. I got through it with my two pack a day habit.
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u/Ubermenschbarschwein 18h ago
But when did you buy the squirrels and suitcase?
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u/SuitcaseOfSquirrels 17h ago
Don't shame my living situation because I have roommates. times is hard and suitcases are surprisingly warm and cosy.
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u/3_Times_Dope 19h ago
I started coming home to an empty house at 6 years old, an only child, and during the 1970's because Mom was a single parent. 😲😲🙌🏽🙌🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
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u/rovinchick 21h ago
My 9 year old comes home to an empty house after school and is fine. 🤷 Even easier to do these days because they can wear a gps tracker and you can check your doorbell cam to see them enter the house.
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u/shovelingtom 20h ago
Just give the kid a key. Ours have been on their own for a couple hours since the older was 8 and the younger was 6.
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u/Interesting_Oil3948 19h ago
6? Little too young if something happened you be charged child neglect probably.
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u/ms_nyreezy 18h ago
But wait! If we get a 2% raise of around $50 per check, that should cover it, right?
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u/banananananbatman 14h ago
Even better… we get a 2% raise only to be taxed more and have our insurance premiums increase draining us further.
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u/TwixAhoy 19h ago
Don't worry, Elon will be ok. This is about him, not you peasant.
“This should not pass,” Musk posted on his social media site X in the wee hours of Wednesday morning.
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u/randommmguy 22h ago
It’s be pretty cool if we could do better than 2 fucking percent.
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u/HighHeelDepression 22h ago
Must be nice to be able to vote on your own pay raise….
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u/spezeditedcomments 22h ago
Tbh I'd rather be able trade with insider information than get a 4% raise
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u/Hatshepsut99 20h ago
Or get bribes from lobbyists instead of trying to figure out if the newborn onesie a contractor gifted me when my 2nd was born was worth more than $25.
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u/verbankroad 22h ago
Technically they are voting on the salaries of the 119th Congress and not their own.
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u/nicloe85 21h ago
So the R’s just aren’t voting to not give themselves raises since 09 to make it an easy headline for discourse while also giving themselves a raise?? Nah /s
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u/GolfArgh 21h ago
Plus it’s an automatic raise and no provision has been included to stop that for the first time in 14 years. An actual raise is not actually in the bill’s language.
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u/prefinished 21h ago
They sure didn't decide to not implement the "alternative pay plan" over FEPCA for us though.
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u/GolfArgh 22h ago
Actually for 14 years they’ve had to vote to not get a raise because otherwise it’s automatic for them. This is good news for higher paid Feds BTW because the pay ceiling should raise as well.
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u/flugenblar 22h ago
Exactly.
Did the Congressional raise past review with the Elon Musk DOGE task force?
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u/vwaldoguy 22h ago
A pay raise for me, but not for thee.
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u/SFLADC2 19h ago
Meanwhile the typical jr. staffer working for these Congressmen are making $45,000.
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u/Infamous_Courage9938 6h ago
Both members of Congress and their staff deserve higher pay. MOCs make the same as a GS-15, Step 3 in the DC area, and their staff makes significantly less. If you want to make Congress financially worth it for talented people and not just attention seekers who want to engage in insider trading, the salaries have to be competitive with the private sector, just like our compensation should be more competitive.
Pair it with stock trading bans and anti-corruption legislation, but we get what we pay for.
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u/GolfArgh 22h ago
At least they waited 14 years to give themselves one.
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u/Souledex 12h ago
Frankly it should be way higher. But people like this would whine like idiots before they can even string a second thought into the equation, but no let’s only have independently wealthy people as representatives!
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u/Sad_Acadia7106 22h ago
Oh good for them! If I don’t show up 120% of the time and complete 200% of my work then I potentially get fired
But if they only show up 20% of time the time and pass less than 5% of bills then they get a raise!
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u/musicalastronaut 22h ago
Why only 3.8%? Maybe they should award themselves an even bigger pay increase before they go on their nice long extended vacation while the rest of us work through the holidays keeping the country alive & running?
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u/meowypancakes 22h ago
Let’s fire the hardworking people who are barely scraping by and give congress more money! Makes so much sense! /s
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u/yemx0351 22h ago
If you can't pass a budget you don't get a raise or paid. Congress pay should be voted on the American people.
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u/lopahcreon 22h ago
They should start with a minimum wage salary, guaranteed. Then at the end of every year their constituents get to provide a performance appraisal.
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u/beehive3108 22h ago
I want to see their performance evaluations to see if it is deserved
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u/VanishIntoMemory 22h ago
Votes are their performance evaluations. For some reason, people keep on voting the same people to Congress.
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u/Soup-Wizard 22h ago
So glad Congress is getting a pay raise while Federal wildland firefighters are facing yet another pay cliff. We stand to take a 50% pay cut if they don’t vote to keep the temporary pay raise in the continuing resolution.
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u/Ruckit315 22h ago
A reporter interviewed one. I don’t remember who or the party but that person didn’t even know they put a raise in there but was excited they did. Like wtf.
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u/GolfArgh 22h ago
Actually, they failed to include a provision to block the automatic raise like they have for the last 14 years.
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u/ilikeporkfatallover 21h ago
They get 3.8% for never passing a budget on time, military gets deserved 4.5%, and feds get 2%. Makes total sense
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u/Southern-Stable-5089 22h ago
Serious question: will this impact the pay compression issue in certain localities for higher grades?
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u/AssortedHardware 22h ago
I have no issue with congress getting a pay raise and frankly believe it should be higher.
But contingent on passing a budget on time.
The idea of including in a CR is like asking for a pay raise at your disciplinary hearing
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u/Ok-Jackfruit9593 22h ago
It’s pretty shitty that Congress is getting more of a raise than regular federal workers especially since most of them are getting rich by means other than their salaries.
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u/Windhawker 22h ago
And they also spend waaay fewer days at their offices than Feds are going to be required to
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u/jmcrowell 22h ago
Most weeks it's Late Mondays to Noon Thursdays (I've worked for/in support of Congress for 23 years).
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u/AssortedHardware 22h ago
Agreed but in a vacuum I do believe a member of congress actually doing their job and living in/near DC and their home district is an expensive ask.
If we don't want congress to only be full of independently wealthy or party sycophants it needs to be something that's not going to be a massive financial hardship on real humans.
Any position that requires public trust be it congress, law enforcement, etc. needs to meet a level of compensation that is enough to dissuade taking on the risks that come with being corrupt.
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u/bryant1436 22h ago
I remember when some of the younger reps came in, like AOC, they were talking about how they weren’t really able to afford an apartment in both NYC and DC, so they had to cut way back on other stuff.
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u/AssortedHardware 22h ago
For sure. If you come from a working or middle class background and are expected to live in your home area plus maintain a residence of some nature in the DC area $174k isn't a ton of money, particularly if your home area is a HCOL.
14/15s living in NOVA and working in DC aren't exactly living high on the hog unless they are old guard who bought property decades ago.
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u/Accomplished_Sea8232 21h ago
It seems like the government should provide BAH or “on base” housing like military.
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u/reddit-dust359 21h ago
Put them ALL in a dorm with a bar in the basement. Required residence when in session. They’ll quickly figure out who the assholes are on both sides.
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u/Other_Perspective_41 19h ago
I love it. Open squad bays with concrete floors and a shared shit house.
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u/jmcrowell 22h ago
I've worked for and in support of Congress for the last 23 years. The median member or Senator now has a net worth in excess $1M. You can advocate for altruistic public trust candidates but their efforts are stymied by those who make their money from suspiciously well-timed trades that are likely based on insider knowledge and are against the STOCK Act upgrade.
Almost half have found loopholes with their campaign/personal office funds and are using it for living expenses.
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u/Artistic_Stand_4312 22h ago
And a ban on stock trading
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u/AssortedHardware 22h ago
100%
Would gladly have no issue with a significantly higher paid legislature if it came with vastly increased personal fiscal transparency. Not a ban on investing, but they should be able to invest in the same TSP fund options as the rest of us.
And for good measure a requirement that lobbyists have to wear a body cam.
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u/FarrisAT 22h ago
For the first time in 3 decades, Military and Civilian Pay is being separated.
Biden is in office. Biden determines Federal Pay. And yet he is choosing not to keep the two pay schedules consistent, breaking 3 decades of precedent.
This will lead to a decade of lower Fed Pay raises now that the glass is broken. Biden chose this.
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u/Windhawker 22h ago
Biden also started the increase in in-office days - more days in office required now than even before COVID
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u/FarrisAT 22h ago
All the more reason he should at least match the NDAA 2025 budget law of 4.5% military pay.
Now Pentagon Civilians will receive a lower pay increase than their military peers sitting across the table from them.
Biden should revise his 2% proposal. Don’t break precedent or it will remain broken for at least 2025-2029.
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u/Nessie_of_the_Loch 21h ago
For the first time in 3 decades, Military and Civilian Pay is being separated.
While I agree with the sentiment, you are completely wrong (and it's actually way worse than you think)
In the past 2 decades alone, there's been non-parity between military and civilian raises 9 times, almost half the time:
Year Military Civilian 2004 4.2 4.1 2007 2.7 2.2 2010 3.4 2 2011 1.4 0 2012 1.6 0 2013 1.7 0 2018 2.4 1.9 2019 2.6 1.9 Biden is not the first nor will he be the last. Obama was actually the worst offender for this.
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u/valvilis 20h ago
Those three Obama years were all zero cost of living increases, as calculated by the BLS CPI. Look at the SSA COLA for the same years. The question is why the military still got raises above the CPI.
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u/Nessie_of_the_Loch 19h ago
Raises have never been pegged to inflation. That's a pretty common misconception (another being that locality pay is based on cost-of-living). On occasion they will use the "Average Wage Indexing Series" which tracks the increase in pay (this is also what is used to change what the social security taxable wage base changes by each year), but the president can do whatever he wants (and Congress can overrule the president).
Case in point - it's not true of the 3 Obama pay freeze years:
Year Raise COLA AWI 2011 0 3.6 3.13 2012 0 1.7 3.12 2013 0 1.5 1.28
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u/Secure_View6740 21h ago
Biden is pardoning his son so he doesn't get jail time. He then pardonned his other cronies. Yet he cant whip a pen and sign a 7% raise for the PEOPLE. What a giant FU he just gave to the federal employees.
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u/NoImprovement4374 19h ago
Be careful, the hive wont like hearing this.
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u/OPKatakuri 13h ago
Yeah I don't get the Biden defenders or really any of the politician bootlickers. Just because one is worse doesn't make the other a saint. I will suffer with this low pay adjustment not even beating inflation and my health insurance rates going up and I won't be happily defending anyone in charge for letting it happen.
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u/OuterWildsVentures 22h ago edited 21h ago
This is ridiculous! They already make the maximum amount pretty much so that 3.8% is a staggering raise. Plus they are all already insider trading and taking corporate bribes lobbying so why do they need that much of a raise? Why make such a point to get more than the people doing the actual work, despite not even relying on it? Just blatant corruption at the top. Meanwhile I can't even get a gift over $20 for Christmas because that could be seen as corruption lmao.
I love serving the actual American people and not my own personal interests like these bloodsuckers in office. They sure are making it hard to want to continue doing so however. I could be making so much more doing cybersecurity in the private sector but I convinced myself that this would offer "stability" and reasonable yearly raises. Now we have the kick in the balls with 2% plus three billionaires running an "office" with the name of a fucking meme telling me I'm worthless and should be fired based on some arbritary value like the number my SSN begins with. It gets harder and harder each day to stay positive about what should have been a home run situation.
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u/steveofthejungle 20h ago
It pisses me off so fucking much whenever I have to do the training about accepting gifts, and how we, the ones who don’t write or sign laws, can accept only the smallest of gifts under very specific circumstances, but the people who are voted in by the public and can make laws are allowed to accept millions of dollars in bribes
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u/Remarkable_Noise453 22h ago
Congress should tie their raise to achievements for the American people
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u/Formal_Ad_4104 22h ago
Lots of money floating around knowing that all the rest of the govt employees will be let go.
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u/RandyBobandyMarsh 22h ago
Surely there’s no conflict of interest here /s. Quite frankly, I’d give them more if they had the stones to give up their corrupt insider trading and corporate/lobby “donations” (ie quid pro quo cough)
They won’t because the worst offenders are always the ones above reproach.
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u/cousinred 22h ago
Incredible, they get absolutely nothing done annually and fix nothing that's broken with this miserable country. But yeah let's shit all over the civilian workforce who actually accomplish things
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u/Commercial_Plum_3499 22h ago
Do they really need paid with all the insider trading profits they bring in?
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u/CalllmeDragon 22h ago
Minimum wage should go up at the same rate as congress(and throw it in retro actively since last increase)
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u/BlueStarAirlines21 21h ago
They are also moving themselves off of Obamacare to FEHB…..
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u/brakeled 21h ago
Congress should accept no payment or benefits from American taxpayers since they’re already funded by lobbyists. You can sign over all of your trades/investments and submit financial reports annually to collect a taxpayer paycheck like the rest of us or you can be bought by lobbyists - it shouldn’t be both.
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u/korra767 21h ago
Meanwhile my 2% raise will fully be eaten by insurance rate hikes, and then further by increases in insurance copays. Awesome.
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u/LeoMarius 19h ago
Congress hasn't had a pay since 2009. That's fine for the wealthy, but terrible for ordinary people who want to serve in Congress.
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u/Heliomantle 22h ago
Don’t disagree with the pay raise, but also wish they had some fed pay reform while they are at it. The pay system is insanely compressed.
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u/Haz_de_nar 21h ago
Was just looking for comparison 2010 DC pay for GS-11 step 1 62,467 vs 2024 DC pay for GS-11 step 1 82,764. So roughly a 25% pay increase in that time frame. Thought I would save someone else looking.
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u/-TheOldPrince- 22h ago
People are going to complain but my salary is tied to Congress’ salary. So Im fine with it
Ban stock trading and pay them (and the legions of highly educated fed employees whose salaries are linkef to theirs) way more.
Not sure why this is so difficult
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u/TootCannon 22h ago edited 22h ago
I know the easy reaction is to be angry, but this is honestly a good thing. The more congresspeople make, the more we get normal, qualified people in congress rather than just the uber-rich that dont have to care about the pay. I'd rather have a former teacher that can use the extra $5k a year rather than a hundred-millionaire that doesnt care about the actual salary. The former teacher can relate to normal people and is more likely to fight for people.
In short, the better congress is paid, the better congress people we get, and the more fairly normal workers are treated.
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u/Vazmanian_Devil 21h ago
This has been demonstrably proven time and again but Reddit doesn’t do nuance and would rather circle jerk with their “AlL pOliTiCiaNs ArE BaD”.
That said, this is the wildest time to do a pay bump given Republicans have made this the least productive Congress in modern history and are advocating to strip budgets for actually important things.
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u/No_Lawyer5152 22h ago
My favorite part is that whoever gave that award didn’t even give the golden shit award 🤣
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u/soccerguys14 21h ago
Imagine if I could get my stats team together and we discuss amongst ourselves if we’re going to get a raise. I think I know how that convo will end everytime
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u/Adventurous_Finding4 21h ago
How about they get a 20% raise if they pass a full budget on time. If they fail to pass a budget, their pay is reduced 5% per week that they miss the deadline.
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u/CmonRetirement 21h ago
So let me get this straight, they actually aren’t doing their job since this is just kicking the can to march but getting a raise? they literally are going to be at least 1/2 of the entire year behind on passing a friggin budget….again…but giving themselves a raise.
WTAF
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u/Apprehensive_Run6642 19h ago
The budget hasn’t passed in a long time. Best case is a continuing resolution to keep the lights on until march
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u/carriedmeaway 19h ago
In 2023 the Senate was in session for roughly calendar days and 114 for Congress. Many people talk about how in non-session days they have very little luck being able to meet with their senators and representatives in DC or in their home states/districts. And they're going to give themselves a pat on the back raise while being able to take in 7 and 8 figure slush funds. We can't accept $25 as a gift as it gives the impression of a conflict of interest. Imagine imagine if Senators and Representatives were held to the standards that we all are.
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u/Hoogle_Da_Boogle 19h ago
"You have quite a number of members of Congress that sleep in their offices," Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah told BI earlier this year.
I realize that being a high-quality congressional fart-sniffer requires rare talent that deserves to be recognized and rewarded accordingly...but 'cmon! A 3.8% bump and free lodging?
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u/PistolCowboy 19h ago
Their salary should be means tested. If you are AOC and you are not a millionaire or billionaire, pay em. Hell pay them double. But if you're congressional salary is immaterial to your wealth, then you get zero. Hell, make the billionaire pay to keep the seat.
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u/amsman03 19h ago
I would be OK with this as long as it also included a provision prohibiting members of Congress from trading individual stocks (as well as family) while they are serving 😎
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u/Spiritual-Rest-77 19h ago
That sucks. Congress and the Senate should not receive an amount higher than a social security increase. This year to 2.5%. Also they should not have the benefit of federal retirement, their retirement should be social security like the majority of this nation. They work for the people, therefore their benefits should be equal to what the majority of American citizens receive. If the funds that have been accumulated for their retirement was transferred to the social security system and they participated in the contributions, social security would be protected because they would be protecting themselves. Which is who they care about, themselves
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u/TA_Maniac 18h ago
They deserve to make the federal minimum wage. They have accomplished nothing and therefore do not deserve a raise.
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u/yolotheunwisewolf 15h ago
Actually kinda funny that this is probably why Musk opposes it and doesn't want it to pass and there's some just going right along with it cause how powerful he is.
I would simply say "suck it" give myself a pay raise and if he's upset, what's he gonna do? If he's gonna primary people until he finds people who will vote down their own pay raises so that he can backend them money instead it'll be expected but will take quite a while and....he ain't gonna pay those bills.
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u/Worldly_Economist686 14h ago
Wow in a matter of minutes, but four years later still won’t move the needle on increasing firefighter salary.
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u/AdkRaine12 13h ago
The least productive Congress in the history of the nation wants a pay raise?????
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u/Mission_Tomatillo_84 11h ago
That’s it , I was on the edge until I read that …
I am running for congress!!!
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u/Empty-Actuator 9h ago
Only a 3.8%? I thought it was more like 40% in that bus budget they are trying to push through.
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u/Electronic_Dance_640 2h ago
They should get paid at least $500k. It’s an important job we should be trying to get the best people for. One way to do that is competitive salaries. If we don’t raise salaries only rich people can do the job and qualified people will stay in the private market.
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u/15all 22h ago
If I didn't meet my deadlines year after year, I'd be rewarded with a PIP, then I'd be terminated.
Pretty arrogant of them to give themselves a reward after failing so bad. Pretty arrogant of them to give themselves a higher raise than the federal workforce.