Most people, if given the chance, would jump at the opportunity to give themselves a raise. Not members of Congress. Every year since 2009, members—seemingly terrified of backlash from voters—have opted to deny themselves a pay bump from their $174,000 annual salary, even as inflation eats away at the value of a dollar. Over 18 years, those denials have added up. Today, rank-and-file members of Congress earn less, in inflation-adjusted dollars, than at any point since the 1950s.

That’s not a problem for most Americans, 69% of whom think legislators are overpaid. The critics include members of Congress themselves. “Congress giving itself a pay raise right now is bananas,” Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., said in 2024 when one was under consideration.

“We have to look at performance,” says Demian Brady, vice president of research at the National Taxpayers Union Foundation. Most years, members can’t even pass a budget on time, making government shutdowns and deadline-punting resolutions an annual tradition, all while the national debt balloons beyond human comprehension. Plus, members still make nearly triple the median full-time worker’s annual pay. “People are facing financial difficulties all over the place,” Brady added. “It looks bad.”

But stagnant salaries create difficulties, too. Flat compensation means that qualified people who might be interested in public service turn elsewhere. “This isn’t a huge part of the budget to begin with, but it could have a huge effect on people’s ability to serve,” says Maya Kornberg, a senior research fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice.

Some former members, who are notably not facing reelection, are now suing to get more money. The bipartisan group, which includes a few current representatives as well, argues that the routine denials run afoul of the 27th Amendment, which states that Congress can’t........

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