Rank-and-file members of both the House and Senate are paid $174,000 a year.
That probably seems like a decent amount of money, and it is: The median household income in 2022 was $74,580, according to the US Census.
But consider that members of Congress generally have to maintain two residences — one in Washington, DC, and one in their home state — and that they haven’t gotten a raise since 2009.
Inflation, meanwhile, has eaten away at the value of that salary over time: If lawmakers’ salaries had kept pace with inflation, they would be paid over $250,000 today.
Rep. Patrick McHenry, a North Carolina Republican who served as the interim speaker of the House following Kevin McCarthy’s ouster, told The Dispatch that congressional pay needed to be raised in order to attract “credible people to run for office.”
Maybe they should be forced to sell their original house when they have to move to DC. It seems like the fact that they end up having to have 2 houses and all the expenses that go with it is the crux of the problem. Especially when DC is probably more than twice as expensive.
Either that or you provide low cost row houses in DC for congresspeople that need accommodation in both places, so they can keep their original housing and not have to worry about paying for a house in DC Sort of like a hotel solely for congresspeople. Then you just require every congressperson to use the rowhousing unless their home city is already DC.
They have to retain their primary residence in their home district, otherwise they’d be ineligible for their position. Putting them in some cheap gov housing while they’re in DC would be a good solution though.