High Salaries for Congressional Staff
By Thomas Rains
WASHINGTON, Dec. 17 – Until the late 1800s, members of Congress had to do all of their own work, from writing legislation to responding to constituents, without help from any staff members.
The Senate first authorized its members to hire clerks with public funds in 1884, and the House followed suit in 1893. This allowed each member to have one staffer. Until then, the committee chairmen were allowed staff members, but only the more wealthy congressmen hired personal staff, with their own money. With the new rules, the publicly-funded staffers were paid $6 per day for the length of the session.
Oh, how times have changed.
In fiscal year 2004, each of New Hampshire and Maine’s senators spent approximately $2 million in public funds to pay their staffs in Washington and in state offices. In the House, the New Hampshire and Maine representatives each spent about three-quarters of a million dollars on staff expenses, according to an analysis conducted for Foster’s Daily Democrat using records filed with the House and Senate. All of the figures in this story are based on fiscal year 2004, which ran from Oct. 1, 2003, to Sept. 30, 2004.
With an annual salary of $152,388.06, in fiscal year 2004, Steven Abbott, Sen. Susan Collins’ chief of staff, was the highest paid of any staff member working for New Hampshire and Maine’s members of Congress.
Each member of Congress is given a budget from which to pay for staff and office expenses but it is up to each member to decide how that money will be spent.
“Salaries in congressional offices are set in basically the same way as normal offices only at a lower amount,” said Brad Fitch, deputy director of the Congressional Management Foundation, a non-profit, non-partisan organization.
When hiring and setting salaries, the applicants’ education and experience are considered as well as what they will bring to the office and their performance is evaluated when they are considered for raises, Fitch said.
The Senate
With a payroll of $2,018,825.19, Sen. Judd Gregg spent more on staff salaries than any member of Congress from New Hampshire and Maine, according to public records filed with the secretary of the Senate.
Gregg was followed closely by his Granite State colleague, Sen. John Sununu, who spent a total of $1,927,450.02 on his payroll.
The Maine senators’ payrolls were slightly less. Sen. Olympia Snowe spent $1,915,701.14 on her payroll, while her colleague Collins spent $1,879,850.49.
Collins’ payroll listed 99 staff members over the entire fiscal year, while Sununu’s only listed 43. Both Gregg and Snowe had staffs numbering somewhere in between.
Senators are permitted to hire as many employees as they want, as long as they do not go over their office budget, which is determined by state demographics and distance from Washington. Any money left over that the senators do not spend goes back to the federal treasury.
In the past six years Gregg has given back a total of $1.6 million, according to his communications director Erin Rath. Collins has returned more than $1 million since she was elected in 1996, and gives money back every year, press secretary Jen Burita said. Sununu has given back $400,000 since he arrived in the Senate in 2002, his communications director, Barbara Riley, said.
Senators salaries and pay raises are set by vote of the Senate. During 2004 all senators earned $157,250.02.
Some top aides were not far behind the senators themselves on the pay-scale- even some who lived in New Hampshire and Maine, where the cost of living is much lower than it is in Washington, D.C. All four of the New Hampshire and Maine senators’ chiefs of staff earned six-figure salaries,
The chief of staff is typically the highest ranking staff member in a congressional office and oversees all office matters involving employment, the budget, procedure and policy in addition to advising the senator on policy matters.
Steven Abbott, Sen. Collins’ chief of staff, was the highest paid of the four Senators’ chiefs of staff. Based in Washington, Abbottt made $152,388.06, in fiscal year 2004, including any bonuses he received.
Sen. Olympia Snowe’s current chief of staff John Richter, brought in $120,999.84 in fiscal year 2004. Antonia Ferrier, Snowe’s press secretary, would not comment on or confirm any of the staff salaries, which she said she did not know. “I would have to go look up people’s salaries,” she said, adding that that, “would be kind of weird.”
Freshman Sen. John Sununu’s Chief of Staff, Paul Collins, made $149,480.67 in fiscal year 2004. Collins, who is based in Portsmouth but often travels to Washington, has worked for Sununu since 1996 when he was first elected to Congress, according to Riley.
However, Collins’ counterpart in Sen. Judd Gregg’s office, chief of staff Joel Maiola, made almost $17,000 less in the same period, pulling in $132,864.86. Gregg communications director Rath noted in an email that Maiola’s annual salary is $145,000 but that he took time off in 2004 to do campaign work.
Maiola works out of both the Concord and Washington offices and has worked for Gregg since 1980 when Gregg was elected to the House, Rath said. Maiola was the only chief of staff out of the four New Hampshire and Maine offices who was not the highest paid staff member. In fact, he was the third highest paid.
Gregg’s administrative assistant, Vasiliki Christopoulos, made $145,925.70, though his annual salary, Rath said, was $142,000. This difference could have come from any bonuses she received. Christopoulos, who is based in Washington, joined Gregg’s staff after the 1992 campaign.
Gregg’s policy director and general counsel, John Mashburn, was the second highest-paid staff member in the senator’s office at $138,913.21. This was slightly more than his salary of $135,000, which – like Christopoulos – could be due to bonuses he received.
In the other three offices, the legislative directors were the second highest paid employees.
Sununu’s legislative director, Gregg Willhauck, made $99,690.34. Snowe’s legislative director, Carolyn Holmes, made $95,499.84, while Collins’ legislative director, James Dohoney, made $88,749.96.
Legislative assistants or communications directors were the third highest paid employees in Sununu, Snowe and Collins’ offices.
Michael O’Reilly, senior legislative assistant for Sununu, for example, made $95,470.66. O’Reilly joined the office in 2003 and is based in Washington.
Snowe’s legislative assistant, Samuel Horton, based in Washington, made $90,499.92.
Collins’ communications director, Jennifer Burita, made $83,749.86, making her the third highest paid staffer in Collins’ office.
These salaries are all above average for the Senate staffers, but generally Senate staff salaries are lower than the rest of the federal government.
There was a 32 percent pay disparity between Senate staff and federal staff, according to a Congressional Management Foundation report looking at 1991-2001, the most recent data available. The average Washington-based Senate salary was $49,236, and the average Washington-based federal employee salary was $64,969, according to the foundation.
Worse off were female Senate staffers, who only made 87 cents for every dollar earned by male staffers, according to the report. The average female salary was $45,845, while the average male salary was $52,876.
Senate staffers made out well compared with the U.S. labor force in general, however. According to the foundation study, Senate staffers made slightly more than the national average in 2001. The average Senate staff salary was $45,847, and the average U.S. labor force salary was $45,430.
The House
Rep. Thomas Allen of Maine’s First District had the highest payroll of the New Hampshire and Maine House delegations in fiscal year 2004 at $941,241.27.
Allen’s Maine colleague, Michael H. Michaud, had a slightly lower payroll at $835,400.46, while each of the New Hampshire representative’s payrolls was less.
Rep. Charlie Bass’ payroll was $734,909.67 for fiscal year 2004, while Rep. Jeb Bradley’s was $714,806.48.
House offices, unlike in the Senate, are limited to 18 full-time employees and four part-time employees at any given point in the year. The amount members can spend on their offices is determined by a formula that considers the district’s population and its distance from Washington.
Over the course of fiscal year 2004 Allen employed 30 different staffers, which was the most of the four legislators, and Bradley had the least at 22.
If the representatives do not use their entire budget, the money is returned to the House reserves.
Bass “usually doesn’t use his entire budget and gives back to the reserves,” press secretary Margo Shideler said.
Bradley press secretary Stephanie DuBois said he gave back $100,953 in 2003 and is projected to give back $250,000 in 2004.
Michaud’s press secretary confirmed the congressman has given back money from the total expense allowance granted for his office expenditures.
The representatives themselves each received a base salary of $158,100 in 2004, according to Fitch; but as in the Senate this money does not come out of the representatives’ office payrolls.
Also like the Senate, the House members’ top aides were not far behind their bosses in pay, though the average salary for House staffers is still lower than the rest of the federal government.
Just like their Senate counterparts, the chiefs of staff in the New Hampshire and Maine House offices were the highest paid staffers in those states’ delegations in fiscal year 2004.
Bass’ chief of staff, Darwin Cusack, who is based in Concord, brought in the most overall with $128,305.59. However, Shideler said Cusack’s salary was $125,000. This difference could be due to any bonuses Cusack received.
Allen’s chief of staff, Jacqueline Potter, made $120,900.01 in the fiscal year. Potter is based in Portland, but travels frequently to Washington.
Bradley’s chief of staff, Debra Vanderbeek, is based in Washington but still made less than her counterpart in Bass’ office, at $118,035.50 in fiscal year 2004.
Of the four New Hampshire and Maine congressmen, Michaud, a freshman at the time, paid his chief of staff, Peter Chandler, the least. Chandler, who is based in Washington, made $86,608.27. However, press secretary Monica Castellanos said this was due to time he took off from the office, and his salary is actually $92,000.
Allen’s and Bradley’s legislative directors brought in the second highest salaries in their respective offices, while Bass’ projects director and Michaud’s scheduler and executive assistant had the second highest salary in those offices.
Todd Stein, the legislative director in Allen’s office, is based in Washington and made $89,277.76. His counterpart in Bradley’s office, Michael Liles is based in Washington and made $69,844.43.
Bass’ projects director, Neil Levesque, who is based in New Hampshire, made $78,083.34. According to Shideler his salary was $75,000, and this difference could be due to bonuses.
Diane Smith, Michaud’s scheduler and executive assistant, is based in Lewiston and made $65,821.77, though Castellanos said his base salary was $60,000.
The third highest-paid positions varied by office.
Allen’s communications director, Mark Sullivan, made $73,872.24 and is based in Portland, though he frequently travels to Washington.
Michaud’s legislative director and deputy chief of staff, Matthew Robinson, is based in Washington and made $60,397.45 though his base salary was $57,800.
Bradley’s Washington-based projects director, Frank Guinta, made $56,694.40.
Bass’ Washington-based legislative director, Tad Furtado, made $73,611.08, but his salary was $75,000 .These differences could be due to any time the employees took off or any bonuses they received.
The New Hampshire and Maine staff salaries are on par with the rest of the House, according to the results of a not-yet-released Congressional Management Foundation study. According to the report, the average salary for a House chief of staff is $118,098.
House legislative directors generally made $70,602, while press secretaries or communications directors made $53,791, and top legislative assistants made, on average, $49,495.
Like the Senate, there is a disparity between what women and men earn: On average in 2004, according to the study, women on the House side earned 84 cents for every dollar men earned.
These statistics only account for what a staff member is paid from the congressman’s “clerk-hire” budget, and do not include salary from any committee staffs they may be on. Frequently staff members will work on committee staff as well as on the member’s staff, which means they may draw earnings from both.
“The NFL of Government”
The profile of the average congressional staff member is young, well-educated and single, according to the Congressional Management Foundation. The summary of the foundation’s House Study said, “This profile is in sharp contrast to the profile of the average worker nationwide.”
However, Fitch summed it up in layman’s terms. “There are no weak performers in congressional offices,” he said.
The staff members are “very bright, very intelligent,” Fitch said, and Capitol Hill is essentially “like the NFL of government.”
