House Committee Staff Pay, Selected Positions, 2001-2023 (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
Revised Aug. 27, 2024 |
| Report Number |
R44322 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
R. Eric Petersen, Specialist in American National Government |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
| Older Revisions |
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Summary:
The level of pay for congressional staff is a source of recurring questions among Members of
Congress, congressional staff, and the public. There may be interest in congressional pay data
from multiple perspectives, including assessment of the costs of congressional operations;
guidance in setting pay levels for staff in committee offices; or comparison of congressional staff
pay levels with those of other federal government pay systems.
This report provides pay data for 11 staff position titles that are used in House committees, and
include the following: Chief Counsel; Communications Director; Counsel; Deputy Staff Director;
Minority Professional Staff Member; Minority Staff Director; Professional Staff Member; Senior
Professional Staff Member; Staff Assistant; Staff Director; and Subcommittee Staff Director.
Tables provide tabular pay data for each House committee staff position. Graphic displays are
also included, providing representations of pay from three perspectives, including the following:
a line graph showing change in pay, depending on data availability;
a comparison at 5-, 10-, and 15-year intervals from 2015, depending on data
availability, of the cumulative percentage change of pay of that position, to
changes in pay of Members of Congress and federal civilian workers paid under
the General Schedule in Washington, DC, and surrounding areas; and
distributions of 2015 pay, in $10,000 increments.
In the past five years (2011-2015), the change in median pay, in constant 2016 dollars, ranged
from a 14.96% increase for communications directors to a -12.24% decrease for subcommittee
staff directors. Of the eight staff positions for which data are available, two positions saw pay
increases while six saw declines from 2011 to 2015. This may be compared to changes to the pay
of Members of Congress, -5.10%, and General Schedule, DC, -3.19%, over the same period.
Pay data for staff working in Senate committee offices are available in CRS Report R44325, Staff
Pay Levels for Selected Positions in Senate Committees, FY2001-FY2014. Data describing the
pay of congressional staff working in the personal offices of Senators and Members of the House
are available in CRS Report R44324, Staff Pay Levels for Selected Positions in Senators’ Offices,
FY2001-FY2014, and CRS Report R44323, Staff Pay Levels for Selected Positions in House
Member Offices, 2001-2014, respectively.
Information about the duration of staff employment is available in CRS Report R44683, Staff
Tenure in Selected Positions in House Committees, 2006-2016, CRS Report R44685, Staff Tenure
in Selected Positions in Senate Committees, 2006-2016, CRS Report R44682, Staff Tenure in
Selected Positions in House Member Offices, 2006-2016, and CRS Report R44684, Staff Tenure
in Selected Positions in Senators’ Offices, 2006-2016.
