Order Code 98-53 GOV
Updated January 18, 2001
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 and Finance 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 as, and at a rate no
greater than, the base pay rate adjustments for the General Schedule (GS). By law (95
Stat. 1183, at 1200), judges’ salaries must be authorized separately.
1994. Congress legislated a freeze on the salaries of Members of Congress for
calendar year 1994. With no GS base salary adjustment, there was no “automatic”
adjustment in 1994 for officials in the three 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. 3009-364).
1998. Adjustment: 2.3%, a rate equal to the January 1998 adjustment for GS base
pay. No legislation was enacted to withhold the pay adjustment for federal officials.
1999. Projected adjustment: 3.1%. The FY1999 Treasury Appropriations Act
provided that there would be no adjustment for federal officials (112 Stat.2681, at 2681-
58).
2000. Adjustment: 3.4%. P.L. 106-113 authorized the pay adjustment for federal
judges.
2001. Per Employment Cost Index data, the January 2001 adjustment would have
been 3.0%. However, the rate was limited to the rate of adjustment in GS base pay, 2.7%.
No legislation was enacted to withhold the pay adjustment for federal officials. P.L. 106-
553 authorized the judicial salary adjustment. Executive Order 13182, December 23, 2000,
established the schedules and pay rates.
Congressional Research Service ˜ The Library of Congress

---

Table 1. Salaries of Federal Officials
Rates
Position
Jan. 2001
Legislative Branch
Vice President of the United States (President of the Senate)
$186,300
Speaker of the House of Representatives
186,300
President Pro Tempore of the Senate
161,200
Majority & Minority Leaders—House & Senate
161,200
Senators, Representatives, Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico, & Delegates
145,100
Judicial Branch
Chief Justice of the United States
$186,300
Associate Justices of the Supreme Court
178,300
Judges, U.S. Courts of Appeal
153,900
Judges, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces
153,900
Judges, U.S. District Courts
145,100
Judges, United States Claims Court
145,100
Judges, Court of International Trade
145,100
Judges, Tax Court of the United States
145,100
Bankruptcy Judges
133,492
Executive Branch
President of the United States1
$400,000
Executive Schedule
Level I: Cabinet-level officials
$161,200
Level II: Deputy secretaries of departments, secretaries of military
departments, & heads of major agencies
145,100
Level III: Under secretaries of departments & heads of middle-level agencies
133,700
Level IV: Assistant secretaries & general counsels of departments, heads of
minor agencies, members of certain boards & commissions
125,700
Level V:
Administrators, commissioners, directors, & members of boards,
commissions, or units of agencies
117,600
Senior Executive Service (SES) Base Pay Rates Effective January 2001
ES-1
$109,100
ES-2
$114,200
ES-3
$119,400
ES-4
$125,500
ES-5
$125,700
ES-6
$125,700
1 Effective noon, January 20, 2001.
2 Executive Order 13182, Dec. 23, 2000, 65 Federal Register 82879. 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 2001. 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. Payable rates in the Washington Baltimore,
DC-MD-VA-WV area—ES-1, $120,261; ES-2, $125,883; ES-3, $131,615; ES-4, $133,700; ES-5, $133,700;
and ES-6, $133,700.

---