Democrats Withdraw Effort for Congressional Pay Raise After Internal Pushback

Democrats have reportedly backed down from pursuing a bill that would have provided members of Congress with a pay raise, according to a recent report from Politico.

House Democrats were positioning to unfreeze the cap on congressional salaries — which has been in effect since the recession in 2009 — and resume the previously automatic cost-of-living increases as part of a $1 trillion spending package. It would have resulted in a $4,500 cost-of-living raise for lawmakers next year.

House Appropriations Committee spokesman Evan Hollander said last week that there was “strong bipartisan support” for the move.

Despite bipartisan support, the proposal is reportedly off the table. House Democrats withdrew consideration of the bill “after facing a major backlash from the party’s most vulnerable members,” Politico reported. There are concerns regarding the optics of such a decision. One political consultant even labeled the measure “political suicide,” especially for freshmen Democrats in politically mixed districts.

The report stated:

Top Democrats agreed in a closed-door meeting Monday night to pull a key section of this week’s massive funding bill to avoid escalating a clash within their caucus over whether to hike salaries for lawmakers and staff for the first time in a decade, multiple lawmakers confirmed.

At least 15 Democrats — mostly freshmen in competitive districts — had pushed to freeze pay after some Democratic and Republican leaders quietly agreed to the slight pay increase earlier this month.

Rep. Joe Cunningham (D-SC), was among those who opposed the move, warning House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer that it was “bad politics and bad policy.”

Hoyer previously said that there is “never” an ideal time for Congress to give itself a raise.

“I don’t think there’s ever a time when people think it’s very good politically to do,” he said, according to Bloomberg. “In this present climate, where the president says we have one of the best economies in the entire history of the world, I don’t know.”

The House still intends to vote on the broader spending package.