Mitchell: Congress Should Follow Chief Justice's Lead On Pay Raise

Press Release

U.S. Rep. Harry Mitchell today commended a decision by U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Roberts to break tradition and not request a pay raise for federal judges for Fiscal Year (FY) 2011. Mitchell, who has proposed a bill to block a pay raise for Members of Congress in FY 2011, says Congress should follow suit.

"In these tough economic times, with unemployment so high and so many families struggling to make ends meet, I believe it would be unconscionable for Congress to give itself a raise," Mitchell said. "Chief Justice Roberts has decided not to request a raise for federal judges and I do not believe Congress should take a pay raise either."

On Thursday, Roberts abandoned a decades-old practice by Supreme Court Chief Justices calling for salary increases in a Year-End Report on the Federal Judiciary. [Source: Washington Post, January 1, 2010]

Last month, Mitchell and Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) introduced a bill to block the automatic pay raise members of Congress are currently set to receive in Fiscal Year 2011.

The Stop the Automatic Pay Raise for Members of Congress in FY2011 Act, H.R. 4255, has gained a wide bipartisan coalition of support with 70 cosponsors to date. The bill would require members to forgo their scheduled Fiscal Year 2011 pay raise.

In 1989, Congress approved a process that provides lawmakers with an automatic pay raise unless they vote specifically to reject the raise.

Last year, Mitchell and Paul were successful in blocking the FY 2010 pay raise after introducing similar legislation, H.R. 156, which garnered 118 cosponsors. Members of Congress did not receive an anticipated $4,700 raise in 2009, which has saved taxpayers approximately $2.5 million. [Source: The Hill, February 24, 2009]

In 2007 and 2008, Mitchell also introduced legislation to block pay raises which did not reach the floor of the House for a vote. When Mitchell received pay increases, over his objection, in FY2008 and FY2009, he donated those pay raises to Arizona charities. [Source: East Valley Tribune, April 16, 2009]

A list of cosponsors to H.R. 4255 can be found here.

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