House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announced Thursday, through a “Dear Colleague,” that she raised the salary cap for congressional aides, allowing them to make more than members theoretically.
Pelosi, by doing this, is allowing the “maximum annual rate of pay for staff to [be raised to] $199,300.” Currently, members for whom they work make $174,000 annually.
Before, staff’s salary cap was just under the members, but Pelosi has theoretically gotten rid of that now.
Pelosi, in her letter, said doing this “will help the Congress recruit and retain the outstanding and diverse talent” they need and will help make the House “more inclusive, open, and representative of the full range of voice and values of the communities”:
To that end, today, it is my privilege to announce an important new reform for our institution: raising the maximum annual rate of pay for staff to $199,300. This order will help the Congress recruit and retain the outstanding and diverse talent that we need, as it also helps ensure parity between employees of the House of Representatives and other employees of the Federal Government.
This important action follows steps taken over the last two Congress to make the house more inclusive, open, and representative of the full range of voices and values of our communities. These steps include establishing the House Office of Diversity and Inclusion and taking action to establish the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress.
The speaker noted that the move was recommended by Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), the current chair of the Committee on House Administration, and added that Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-WA), the chair of Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress, also helped by reviewing the matter.