A secret rule change will see House lawmakers get a $34,000 pay rise

In one of their last acts, House Democrats secretly pushed through a rule change that will result in lawmakers in the lower chamber receiving a $34,000 pay rise.

The new rule, proposed by Democrats on the House Administration Committee, will allow members of the House to be reimbursed for room, board and travel expenses while on official business in Washington DC.

It was tucked into the internal rules of the House of Representatives, rather than the annual spending bills, and thus was not debated in the House of Representatives, according to the New York Times.

In fact, many House members only learned of the change on Tuesday, just two weeks after former Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced a similar pay rise for House staffers.

Supporters say the new pay rise is necessary to expand the pool of people who could afford to serve in Congress, but Republicans say the “secret” rule should have been up for public debate.

The House Administrative Committee — led by California Democrat Zoe Lofgren (pictured) — approved a measure that would allow members of the House to receive room, board and travel reimbursement while on official business in Washington DC

The House Administrative Committee — then headed by California Democrat Zoe Lofgren — approved the reimbursement on December 30, 2022, with no legislators in panel opposing the change.

Under the new rule, house members could be subsidized about $34,000 for their expenses in DC, where they live for weeks. That means if all 440 current members and delegates applied for the maximum amount, the reimbursements would total around $15.1 million.

In Congress, spending is limited to a daily rate by the General Services Administration. GSA daily rates vary from $190 to $260 depending on the season.

The daily rate for groceries is currently $79 per day, meaning a DC lawmaker could spend as much as $340 per day on congressional business.

The money for those expenses would come from Member’s Representational Allowance, the account that covers official expenses, according to Bloomberg.

However, in an email obtained by DailyMail.com, the convention bureaus were asked to withhold filing their reimbursement costs until the committee could offer further guidance.

Members of the House of Representatives already earn an annual salary of $174,000 and receive a number of perks for their service

House members already earn an annual salary of $174,000, an amount that was set in 2009 and hasn’t changed since, even as the cost of living has risen.

In addition, members of the House of Representatives receive annual allowances averaging $1.27 million annually to staff and administer their offices at their discretion, and while members of Congress are required to purchase insurance under the Affordable Care Act, they receive a subsidy of 72 percent of their premiums for Axios.

Federal lawmakers are also eligible for lifetime health insurance under the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program.

And depending on the member’s age and length of service, he or she could also receive a lifetime pension equal to 80 percent of their salary — equivalent to $139,200 a year.

However, as supporters of the rule change, the Special Committee on Congressional Modernization suggested that a pay rise would entice more people to serve in Congress.

“Unlike their counterparts in the executive branch and in the private sector, members do not receive a subsistence allowance or reimbursement of their living expenses while working in Washington,” the committee noted in its final report.

Former Congressman Mo Brooks, a Republican from Alabama, slammed the decision to pass the measure without discussion in the House

Some lawmakers, particularly the younger ones, have complained about the cost of affording a seat in the country’s capital

Some lawmakers have complained that they are having trouble supporting two residences on one congressional salary. Others have found that they still earn far more than the average American.

‘Ppl rag on Congress’ salary & it’s easy to get political points with it but many don’t realize that it requires paying 2 rents, labor costs can’t be deducted etc. The result is big gestures to announce that they / Employees don’t get COLA adjustments, but then trade stocks to compensate – worse!’ wrote New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter in December 2021.

And just last month, newly elected Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost, a Florida Democrat, tweeted: “I just applied for an apartment in DC where I told the guy my credit is really bad. He said I would be fine.

“Rejected, application fee lost,” he wrote. “It’s not for people who don’t have money yet.”

He later said: “I also recognize that I speak from a privileged point of view because in two years my credit score will be fine based on my new salary.

The committee suggested raising lawmakers’ salaries would reduce “polarization” because “more candidates are willing to run for office if they view public service as an economically viable career.”

But former Rep. Mo Brooks, a Republican from Alabama, said he was upset that the pay rise wasn’t discussed in the House.

“You can have a good public policy debate about whether congressmen should be paid more to attract a better group and you could have a reasonable debate about inflation adjustments, but it really needs to be made public,” he said.

“That’s my biggest problem, that it was a top secret.”