• a line graph showing change in pay, depending on data availability;
• a comparison at 5-, 10-, and 15-year intervals from FY2015, depending on data availability, of the cumulative percentage change of pay for that position, to the change in pay of Members of Congress and federal civilian workers paid under the General Schedule in Washington, DC, and surrounding areas; and
• distributions of FY2015 pay, when availableSenate Committee Staff Pay, Selected September 29, 2022 Positions, FY2001-FY2021 R. Eric Petersen The level of pay for congressional staff is a source of recurring interest among Members of Specialist in American Congress, congressional staff, and the public. There may be interest in congressional pay data National Government from multiple perspectives, including assessment of the costs of congressional operations; guidance in setting pay levels for staff in committee offices; consideration by staff when Tyler L. Wolanin negotiating compensation for a new position or promotion; or comparison of congressional staff Research Assistant pay levels with those of other federal government pay systems. This report provides pay data for the following 14 staff position titles that are used in Senate committees: Archivist; Chief Clerk; Chief Counsel; Communications Director; Counsel; Deputy Staff Director; General Counsel; Minority Staff Director; Professional Staff Member; Senior Counsel; Senior Professional Staff Member; Staff Assistant; Staff Director; and Systems Administrator. The following table provides FY2021 pay levels and the change in median pay levels for these positions in constant 2022 dollars, between FY2020 and FY2021. FY2021 Median Pay and Percentage Change for Selected Staff Positions in Senate Committees in 2022 Dollars and Percentage Change, FY2020-FY2021 FY2021 Pay, Change, FY2021 Pay, Change, Position Constant FY2020- Position Constant FY2020- 2022$ FY2021 2022$ FY2021 Archivist $87,824 6.34% Minority Staff Director $184,075 -4.64% Chief Clerk $160,584 5.82% Professional Staff Member $117,497 -5.79% Chief Counsel $182,808 -2.59% Senior Counsel $134,878 -13.86% Communications Director $140,318 -11.31% Senior Professional Staff Member $142,646 -2.56% Counsel $120,701 2.21% Staff Assistant $50,014 -1.25% Deputy Staff Director $178,419 -6.27% Staff Director $184,380 -4.48% General Counsel $182,965 -3.71% Systems Administrator $94,707 -14.13% Source: Report of the Secretary of the Senate, as col ated by LegiStorm, various years, and CRS calculations. FY2021 median pay provided in constant 2022 dol ars. Report tables provide aggregate statistics on pay for each staff position for FY2001, FY2007, FY2012, and FY2017-FY2021, including quartiles, median pay, and average pay, based on available data. Graphic displays are also included, providing representations of pay from the following two perspectives:  a line graph showing change in median pay, FY2001-FY2021, in nominal (current) and constant, 2022 dollars; and  distributions of FY2021 pay in constant 2022 dollars, in $10,000 increments. Other data, which may not represent the entire FY2001-FY2021 period, are available to congressional staff upon request. The Congressional Research Service provides a number of products on staffing issues. These can be found in CRS Report R44688, Congressional Staff: CRS Products on Size, Pay, Job Tenure, and Duties, Congressional Staff: CRS Products on Size, Pay, Job Tenure, and Duties. Congressional Research Service link to page 4 link to page 5 link to page 5 link to page 6 link to page 7 link to page 8 link to page 8 link to page 8 link to page 9 link to page 10 link to page 11 link to page 12 link to page 13 link to page 14 link to page 15 link to page 16 link to page 17 link to page 18 link to page 19 link to page 20 link to page 21 link to page 22 link to page 23 Senate Committee Staff Pay, Selected Positions, FY2001-FY2021 Contents Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Data Concerns ................................................................................................................................. 2 Data Tables and Visualizations ........................................................................................................ 2 Senate Committee Staff Pay Tables ................................................................................................. 3 Tables Table 1. Senate Committee Staff Pay, Annual Maximums, 2001-2022........................................... 4 Table 2. FY2021 Median Pay in Constant 2022 Dollars, and Changes in Pay for Selected Staff In Senate Committees, Members Of Congress, and Selected General Schedule Employees, Selected Periods ........................................................................................................ 5 Table 3. Archivist............................................................................................................................. 6 Table 4. Chief Clerk ........................................................................................................................ 7 Table 5. Chief Counsel .................................................................................................................... 8 Table 6. Communications Director .................................................................................................. 9 Table 7. Counsel ............................................................................................................................ 10 Table 8. Deputy Staff Director ....................................................................................................... 11 Table 9. General Counsel .............................................................................................................. 12 Table 10. Minority Staff Director .................................................................................................. 13 Table 11. Professional Staff Member ............................................................................................ 14 Table 12. Senior Counsel ............................................................................................................... 15 Table 13. Senior Professional Staff Member ................................................................................. 16 Table 14. Staff Assistant ................................................................................................................ 17 Table 15. Staff Director ................................................................................................................. 18 Table 16. Systems Administrator ................................................................................................... 19 Contacts Author Information ........................................................................................................................ 20 Congressional Research Service link to page 7 Senate Committee Staff Pay, Selected Positions, FY2001-FY2021 Introduction Levels of pay for congressional staff are a source of recurring interest, in $10,000 increments.

The level of pay for congressional staff is a source of recurring questions among Members of Congress, congressional staff, and the public. In Senate committees, the chair and ranking Membermember set the terms and conditions of employment for majority and minority staff, respectively. This includes job titles and descriptions; rates of pay, subject to minimum and maximum levels;¹1 and resources available to staff to carry out their official duties.² There may be interest in congressional pay data from multiple perspectives, including assessment of the costs of congressional operations; guidance in setting pay levels for staff in committee offices; consideration by staff when negotiating compensation for a new position or promotion; or comparison of congressional staff pay levels with those of other federal government pay systems.

Publicly available information sources do not provide aggregated congressional staff pay data in a readily retrievable form.2 Payreadily retrievable form. Data in this report are based on official Senate reports, which afford the opportunity to use consistently collected data. Pay³ information in this report is based on the Senate's Report of the Secretary of the Senate, published semiannually, in periods from April 1 to September 30, and October 1 to March 31,⁴ as collected and organized by LegiStorm, a private entity that provides some congressional data by subscription.⁵ by the Senate,3 as collated by LegiStorm, a private entity that provides some congressional data by subscription.4 Data in this report are based on official Senate reports, which afford the opportunity to use consistently collected data from a single, authoritative source. Additionally, this report provides annual data by fiscal year, which allows for observations about the nature of Senate committee staff compensation over time.

This report provides pay data for 1314 staff position titles that are used in Senate committees, and for which sufficient data could be identified. The positions include the following: Archivist Deputy Staff Director Senior Professional Staff Member Chief Clerk General Counsel Staff Assistant Chief Counsel Minority Staff Director Staff Director Communications Director Professional Staff Member Systems Administrator Counsel Senior Counsel When committees had more than two staff membersfor which sufficient data could be identified. Position titles and the years for which data are available since FY2001 are provided in Table 1. Titles were identified through a two-step process. The first step identified 302 job titles used in Senate committees in FY2014. Of those titles, 277, or 91.7%, were filled by only one staff member and excluded. In the second step, the remaining 25 titles were assessed to determine how many of the 20 Senate committees for which data were available⁶ employed staff with each title. Twelve position titles that were used by six or fewer panels (five for minority positions) were excluded.

Pay data were then collected for the remaining 13 positions. In order to be included, annual pay data for each position needed to be available from at least five committees (four for minority positions). When committees had more than one staff member with the same job title, data for no more than two staff per committee were collected.⁷ Senate committee staff had to hold a position with the same job title in the same committee for the entire fiscal year examined, and not receive pay from any other congressional employing authority for their data to be included. Every recorded payment ascribed in the LegiStorm data to those staff for the fiscal year is tabulated. Data collected for this report may differ from an employee'’s stated annual salary due to the inclusion of overtime, bonuses, or other payments⁸ in addition to base salary paid in the course of a year.

in addition to base salary paid in the course of a year.5 1 The maximum annual pay for staff in Senate committees is $203,700. See Salary Directive of President pro tempore of the Senate, March 15, 2022, set out as a note following 2 U.S.C. 4575. Maximum payable rates for Senate committee staff since 2001 are available in Table 1. 2 In this report, pay refers to monies paid by the Senate to staff, and excludes other components of total compensation, which might include paid leave or employer contributions to various insurance and retirement benefits. 3 Volumes of the Report of the Secretary of the Senate since April 2011 are available at https://www.senate.gov/legislative/common/generic/report_secsen.htm. 4 http://www.legistorm.com/. 5 Other forms of payment do not appear to be recorded in a consistent manner. Sometimes overtime and other pay are listed as separate entries and in other instances, significant one-time changes in a semiannual total may suggest payments in addition to regular salary. Congressional Research Service 1 link to page 7 Senate Committee Staff Pay, Selected Positions, FY2001-FY2021 Data Concerns Data Concerns

Data presented here are subject to some challenges that could affect findings presented or their interpretation. Some of the concerns include the following:

• Given the  A large number of positions with titles held by one Senate employee, dataposition titles in Senate committees are held by only one Senate employee. Data provided here almost certainly do not represent all of the jobs carried out by Senate committee staff.
•  The manner in which staff titles are assigned might have implications about the representativeness of the data provided. Of positions for which data were collected, two broad categories emerge. The first category identifies position titles that usually appear to apply to one staff member per committee. ¹⁰6 Since almost all available data were collected for those positions, pay information provided is likely to be highly representative of what Senate committees pay staff in those positions. The second category includes positions for which committees might hire two or more staff members,¹¹.7 Since pay data were collected for no more than two staff per committee for each position, it is more likely that data for those positions isare a sample of staff in those positions rather than nearly complete data, which. Those data may be less closely representative of what all staff in those positions are paid.
•  Pay data provide no insight into the education, work experience, position tenure, and full- or part-time status of staff, or other potential explanations for levels of compensation.
• Potential differences  Differences might exist in the job duties of staff in positions with the same title. Aggregation of pay by job title rests on the assumption that staff with the same title carry out the same or similar tasks. Given the wide discretion congressional employing authorities have in setting the terms and conditions of employment, there may be differences in the duties of similarly titled staff that could have effects on affect their levels of pay. Acknowledging the imprecision inherent in congressional job titles, an older edition of the Senate Handbook states, "“Throughout the Senate, individuals with the same job title perform vastly different duties."¹²

”8 Data Tables and Visualizations

Tables in this section provide background information on Senate pay practices, comparative data for each position, and detailed data and visualizations for each position. Table 2 1 provides the maximum payable rates for Senate committee staff since 2001FY2001 in both nominal (current) and constant 2016 dollars.

constant, 2022 dollars. Constant dollar calculations throughout the report are based on the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for, various years, expressed in constant, 2016 dollars.¹³

Table 3 provides the available cumulative percentage changes in median pay for each of the 13 positions, Members of Congress, and 2022 dollars.9 6 Positions that typically employ one staff member per committee include staff director and systems administrator. 7 Positions that typically employ two or more staff members per committee include counsel, staff assistant, and professional staff member. 8 U.S. Senate, Committee on Rules and Administration, Senate Handbook (Washington: 1996), pp. I-13, available to congressional clients from the authors. 9 U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index, at https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/CUUR0000SA0. Congressional Research Service 2 link to page 8 link to page 9 link to page 22 link to page 9 link to page 22 link to page 22 Senate Committee Staff Pay, Selected Positions, FY2001-FY2021 Table 2 provides FY2021 pay levels in median pay in constant 2022 dollars and percentage changes for each of the 14 positions; for Members of Congress;10 and for salaries paid under the General Schedule in Washington, DC, and surrounding areas.¹⁴ Table 4 - and in the Rest of the United States (RUS) area.11 Table 3 through Table 16 provide available tabular pay data for each Senate committee staff position. The numbers of staff whosestaff position for FY2001, FY2007, FY2012, and FY2017-FY2021, including data distributed by quartile, median pay, and average pay. The numbers of staff for which data were counted are identified as observations“#” in the data tables. Staff pay tables also provide a comparison, at various intervals to FY2021, based on data availability, of the cumulative percentage change in median pay for that position, in constant, 2022 dollars. in the data tables. Graphic displays are also included for each position, providing representations of pay from three perspectives, including the following:

• the following two perspectives:  distributions of FY2021 pay in 2022 dollars, in $10,000 increments; and  a line graph showing change in median pay, FY2001-FY2021 (or available data), pay, depending on data availability, in nominal (current) and constant 20162022 dollars. Senate Committee Staff Pay Tables Interpreting Pay Tables: Statistics Describing Pay Data For each year that data are available, statistical values for staff positions are included in Table 3 through Table 16, including the fol owing: Minimum & Maximum The smallest and largest pay level, respectively, for each position Average (Mean) The mean is the average of a list of numbers, in which the sum of all the values is divided by the total number of values. For example, if three salaries, $30,000, $45,000, and $90,000, were identified for a given staff position, the average (mean) would be ($30,000 + $45,000 + $90,000) ÷ 3 = $55,000. Median The midpoint at which half of the numbers in a list are higher and the other half lower. For example, if three salaries, $30,000, $45,000, and $90,000, were identified for a given staff position, the midpoint (median) would be $45,000. Statistical Quartiles Statistical values that divide data into quarters for more detailed analysis. In a list of numbers, Quartile 1 (Q1) is a number that falls in the middle between the lowest number, or minimum, and the median. For example, if Q1 for a given staff position was $50,000, this would indicate that 25% of employees in that position make $50,000 or less. Quartile 2 (Q2) is also the median. Quartile 3 (Q3) is a number that falls in the middle between the median and the highest number in the list, or maximum. Numbers between Q1 and Q3 compose the interquartile range, the difference between the largest and smallest values in the middle 50% of a list of numbers. Quartiles might also be described as percentiles, as shown below. 10 Member pay data are taken from CRS Report 97-1011, Salaries of Members of Congress: Recent Actions and Historical Tables. 11 General Schedule pay change is based on changes in pay levels, and not the pay of individuals. General Schedule pay tables for various years are available at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/. For a complete description of areas covered under the Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia, DC-MD-VA-WV-PA and RUS locality pay tables in 2022, see https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/2022/locality-pay-area-definitions/. Congressional Research Service 3 Senate Committee Staff Pay, Selected Positions, FY2001-FY2021 Statistical Measures Used in Pay Tables Quartile 1 Quartile 2 Quartile 3 Minimum (Q1) (Q2) Median (Q3) Maximum Average Lowest 25th Percentile 50th Percentile 75th percentile Highest The mean, number in number in a or number a list 25% of staff 50% of staff make less than 75% of staff list expressing make less than Q2 make less than the central Q1 Q3 value in a set of data Middle number Median—midpoint at which Middle number between half of the numbers in a list between Minimum and are higher and the other half Median and Median lower Maximum Lower Quartile Interquartile Range = Q3-Q1 Upper Quartile Table 1. Senate Committee Staff Pay, Annual Maximums, 2001-2022 Constant Constant Year Nominal $ 2022 $ Year Nominal $ 2022 $ 2001 $142,415 $231,874 2012 $171,315 $215,154 2002 $147,315 $236,119 2013 $171,315 $212,048 2003 $152,015 $238,223 2014 $171,315 $208,664 2004 $155,415 $237,234 2015 $171,315 $208,416 2005 $159,415 $235,365 2016 $171,315 $205,820 2006 $162,515 $232,444 2017 $171,315 $201,526 2007 $162,515 $226,007 2018 $171,315 $196,722 2008 $166,615 $223,141 2019 $173,900 $196,136 2009 $171,315 $230,255 2020 $173,900 $193,746 2010 $171,315 $226,539 2021 $173,900 $185,052 2011 $171,315 $219,607 2022 $203,700 $203,700 Source: 2 U.S.C. 4571, 2 U.S.C. 4575 dollars;
• a comparison at 5-, 10-, and 15-year intervals from FY2015,¹⁵ depending on data availability, of the cumulative percentage change of that position to changes in pay, in constant 2016 dollars, of Members of Congress and federal civilian workers paid under the General Schedule in Washington, DC, and surrounding areas;¹⁶ and
• distributions of FY2015 pay, when available, in 2016 dollars, in $10,000 increments.