Senate Committee Staff Pay, Selected Positions, FY2001-FY2023 (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
Revised Aug. 27, 2024 |
| Report Number |
R44325 |
| 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 13 staff position titles used in Senate committees. The positions
include the following: Chief Clerk, Chief Counsel, Communications Director, Counsel,
Legislative Assistant, Minority Chief Counsel, Minority Staff Director, Press Secretary,
Professional Staff Member, Senior Counsel, Staff Assistant, Staff Director, and Systems
Administrator.
Tables provide tabular pay data for each Senate 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 FY2015, depending on data
availability, of the cumulative percentage change of pay for that position, to the
change in pay of Members of Congress and federal civilian workers paid under
the General Schedule in Washington, DC, and surrounding areas; and
distributions of FY2015 pay, when available, in $10,000 increments.
In the past five years (FY2011 and FY2015), the change in median pay, in constant 2016 dollars,
ranged from a 16.93% increase for professional staff members to a -16.48% decrease for staff
assistants. Of the seven staff positions for which data were available in FY2011 and FY2015, two
saw pay increases while five saw declines (data are not available in FY2011 or FY2015 for chief
counsels, communications directors, legislative assistants, minority chief counsels, minority staff
directors, and press secretaries). This may be compared to changes to the pay of Members of
Congress, -5.10%, and General Schedule, DC, -3.19%, over approximately the same period
(calendar years 2011-2015).
Pay data for staff working in House committee offices are available in CRS Report R44322, Staff
Pay Levels for Selected Positions in House Committees, 2001-2014. 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.
