The current salary for Members of both the House and Senate increased on January 3, 2001 to $145,100 per year, pursuant to an automatic COLA [cost-of-living allowance] provision adopted as part of the Ethics Reform Act of 1989. A COLA increase now takes effect annually unless Congress takes an affirmative vote to block it.

The Speaker of the House, Majority and Minority Leader of the House and Senate all make more. The Speaker's current salary is:$186,300. The party leaders make $161,200.

Congress also voted an increase in the President's salary to $400,000, effective January 20, 2001. The Vice President earns $186,300. For other federal official salaries, ask your Member of Congress or Senators to send you a Congressional Research Service report, "Salaries of Federal Officials: A Fact Sheet," by Sharon Gressle, December 19, 2000. CRS Reports are free, but available only from a congressional office. Many can be e-mailed.

You can identify and contact your own 3 Members of Congress on C-SPAN's "Write to Congress" page.

Members also receive retirement, health, and other benefits. Their entire compensation package is described in other reports by the Congressional Research Service, available upon request from your Senator or Representative's office. The CRS reports are entitled "Salaries and Allowances: The Congress" by Paul Dwyer, and "Retirement Benefits for Members of Congress" by Patrick Purcell.

For historical information on congressional salaries, visit Salaries of Congress