High-ranking bureaucrats can now earn up to $38,000 more than members of Congress.
On Friday, Speaker Nancy Pelosi released a new order upping the yearly maximum rate that politicians may pay House employees to $212,100. This is an increase of $38,000 over what members of Congress make.
This comes after Pelosi issued a directive earlier this year increasing the maximum wage workers may make from $199,300 to $203,700. At the same time, Pelosi mandated a $45,000 base compensation for all House employees.
Given that no formal House regulations had existed for decades regarding the compensation of employees, the move was considered unprecedented. Instead, each office in the House of Representatives was allowed to agree on how much to pay its employees.
Pelosi, who will step down as speaker when the new Republican Congress takes office on Tuesday, said the change would make it easier for the government to hold on to talented employees who would otherwise be tempted to leave for private sector jobs.
Pelosi (D-CA) issued a letter to her fellow representatives stressing the importance of the House of Representatives employees. Therefore, we must do all our power to keep and attract the brightest minds in the country and create a congressional staff that accurately represents the people they are privileged to serve.
With the new wage ceiling, top staff can earn more per year than the legislators who hire them. Lawmakers in the House and the Senate get the same yearly salary of $174,000.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has stated that the increase in the highest possible wage for House workers is in line with the administration of former Vice President Joe Biden.
According to a survey by the moderate advocacy organization Issue One, there was a significant wage gap across offices before the new minimum limit.
The study showed that remuneration varies widely between offices, with some managed by radical Democrats paying interns as much as $15 per hour. In the meantime, some other offices paid their entry-level workers less than $30,000.
When comparing salaries to the cost of living in Washington, D.C., Issue One discovered that one out of every eight congressional offices paid below the poverty line. According to the data, about 1,200 people working in Congress make less than $42,610 annually.