98-53 GOV
January 21, 1998
CRS Report for Congress
Received through the CRS Web
Salaries of Federal Officials:
A Fact Sheet
Sharon S. Gressle
Specialist in American National Government
Government Division
The Ethics Reform Act of 1989 provides for an annual salary adjustment for all
positions on the Executive Schedule as well as for Members and leaders of the Senate and
the House of Representatives (103 Stat. 1716, at 1769). Adjustments are based on the
percent of change in the private sector wages and salaries element of the Employment Cost
Index (ECI) minus 0.5%. They are to go into effect at the same time and at a rate no
greater than the rate adjustments for the General Schedule (GS). By law (95 Stat. 1183,
at 1200) judges’ salaries must be legislated separately. Public Law 105-119, §306,
authorizes payment of the 1998 2.3% adjustment to the federal judiciary (FY1998
Commerce, State, Justice, and Judiciary Appropriations, 111 Stat. 2440, at 2493).
1994. Congress legislated a freeze on the salaries of Members of Congress for
calendar year 1994. The FY1994 Treasury, Post Office, and General Government
Appropriations Act eliminated the January 1994 national adjustment for the General
Schedule. Because there was no GS adjustment, there was no “automatic” adjustment in
1994 for top positions in the executive and legislative branches (107 Stat. 35 and 107 Stat.
1226, at 1253).
1995. Projected adjustment: 2.6%. The FY1995 Treasury Appropriations Act
provided that there would be no adjustment for federal officials (108 Stat. 2328, at 2424).
1996. Projected adjustment: 2.3%. The FY1996 Treasury Appropriations Act
provided that there would be no adjustment for federal officials (109 Stat. 468, at 507).
1997. Projected adjustment: 2.3%. The FY1997 Treasury Appropriations Act
provided that there would be no adjustment for federal officials (110 Stat. 3009).
1998. The adjustment for January 1998 is 2.3%, a rate equal to the January 1998
adjustment for General Schedule base pay. No legislation was enacted to withhold the pay
adjustment for federal officials.
Congressional Research Service ˜ The Library of Congress

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Salaries of Federal Officials
Salary Rates
Position
Effective 1/1/98
Legislative Branch
Vice President of the United States (President of the Senate)
$ 175,400
Speaker of the House of Representatives
175,400
President Pro Tempore of the Senate
151,800
Majority & Minority Leaders—House & Senate
151,800
Senators, Representatives, Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico, & Delegates
136,700
Judicial Branch
Chief Justice of the United States
175,400
Associate Justices of the Supreme Court
167,900
Judges, U.S. Courts of Appeal
145,000
Judges, Court of Military Appeals
145,000
Judges, U.S. District Courts
136,700
Judges, United States Claims Court
136,700
Judges, Court of International Trade
136,700
Judges, Tax Court of the United States
136,700
Bankruptcy Judges
125,700
Executive Branch
President of the United States1
200,000
Executive Schedule
Level I: Cabinet-level officials
151,800
Level II: Deputy secretaries of departments, secretaries of military
departments, & heads of major agencies
136,700
Level III: Under secretaries of departments & heads of middle-level agencies
125,900
Level IV: Assistant secretaries & general counsels of departments, heads of
minor agencies, members of certain boards & commissions
118,400
Level V:
Administrators, commissioners, directors, & members of boards,
commissions, or units of agencies
110,700
Senior Executive Service (base pay)2
ES-1
$ 99,200
ES-2
$103,900
ES-3
$108,600
ES-4
$114,500
ES-5
$118,400
ES-6
$118,400

1 The President’s salary remains unchanged. See: U.S. Library of Congress, Congressional Research Service. Salary
of the President Compared with That of Other Federal Officials, by Sharon Gressle, CRS report 97-761 GOV
(Washington: August 7, 1997), 6 p.

2 Executive Order 13071, Dec. 29, 1997, 62 Federal Register 68521. The SES salaries are set by the President. The
base pay rates were changed and locality-based comparability payments were extended to the SES in January 1998.
SES maximum base rates are capped at Level IV of the Executive Schedule and the locality-based payments are capped
at Level III of the Executive Schedule. Except for the capped rates at ES-5 and ES-6, the payable rates in the
Washington Baltimore, DC-MD-VA-WV represent a 7.27% increase over the base rates: ES-1, $106,412; ES-2,
$111,454; ES-3, $116,495; ES-4, $122,824; ES-5, $125,900; and ES-6, $125,900.

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