Former and outgoing members of Congress from both parties agree that one of the biggest problems with the job is that they don’t make enough money, despite a six-figure salary — even as they acknowledge the Americans they represent don’t want to hear about it.
“If I go back to my district, where the average salary in some places is $32,000, and I say, ‘I don’t make enough,’ when I make $174,000, they would go ballistic,” former Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) told the New York Times in a video interview published Tuesday. “I’d be out of office in a heartbeat.”
“And yet,” Buck added, “I’m trying to maintain two places to live, have clothes in two places, have a car in two places, it’s very difficult.”
California Democratic Reps. Tony Cardenas and Anna Eshoo, who will leave Congress in January 2025, concurred that the inability to write off or be reimbursed for expenses incurred while traveling to and from Washington, DC, is a financial burden.
“I had a roommate every time I’ve rented an apartment,” Cardenas said. “Upwards of 100 Congress members actually sleep in their office because it’s expensive.”
“Do you want it to still be the House of the people,” Eshoo asked, “or do you want it to be only wealthy people?”
Other retiring reps, Larry Bucshon (R-Ind.), Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.) and Dan Kildee (D-Mich.), said in their interviews that the congressional pay rate should at least keep up with the rising cost of living and be adjusted based on inflation.
“Congress works better when you have a broad swath of the American people being able to run and get elected,” Bucshon affirmed. “I really believe that.”
The website Unusual Whales reported that more than two dozen members of Congress beat the stock market in 2022 with their own portfolios — despite Wall Street having its worst-performing year since the 2008 financial crisis.
The following year, the stock-trading site found lawmakers were trading 75% less, with some leaving Washington and others curbing their investments as both chambers weigh bills to increase transparency.
Several prominent lawmakers, including the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and former Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), faced calls to resign in 2020 after dumping considerable shares before global markets plummeted at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Asked by the Times whether Congress was corrupt, the Republicans and Democrats gave conflicting answers.
“Congress is absolutely not corrupt,” said Bucshon, whose latest financial disclosure report shows he holds millions of dollars in assets due to stock trades and investment fund holdings.
Retiring Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), whose financial filings also show investments in the millions of dollars, countered that there were “parts of our system that are corrupting to the general atmosphere,” citing the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision, which permits unlimited spending by corporations on elections.
“The number of times over the course of the 11-plus years that I’ve heard one of my colleagues say, ‘You know I agree with you on that, but I could never vote that way because of my fear of a primary,’ is concerning,” said Derek Kilmer (D-Wash.).
“I think there’s too much money in our political system,” added Kilmer, who co-chairs the Fix Congress Committee. “I’ve been a big supporter of campaign finance reform.”
Buck and others said the threat to good governance was not just special-interest lobbying but fundraising thresholds necessary to secure high-ranking committee positions.
“Buying a committee seat is not something that most Americans know that members of Congress have to do,” Buck pointed out.
Retiring Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) noted that one way that lawmakers avoided expensive trips to and from their districts in the past was to move their families to Washington.
“Folks didn’t jump on an airplane on, like, a Thursday afternoon and head for home,” Carper said, which he and Buck agreed led to a less divisive atmosphere among members of different parties.
“Their families got to know each other, and they got to know each other on a social basis,” Buck added. “So there was less divisiveness, there was less hate.”
“When I became a member of Congress, I was conscious of the fact that I was joining an organization that according to recent polling is less popular than head lice, colonoscopies and the rock band Nickelback,” Kilmer joked.
But that began to change this past year, he said, when his committee suggested that freshman lawmakers do orientation activities together, regardless of their party affiliation.
“We passed 202 recommendations,” he said. “And I actually think over time, you’re going to see some positive change within the institution as a consequence of that work.”
