Order Code 98-53 GOV
Updated December 4, 2003
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 basic 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. 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. 2681-58).
2000. Adjustment: 3.4%. (P.L. 106-113 authorized judicial pay adjustment.)
2001. Adjustment: 2.7%. Projected 3.0% adjustment limited by GS base pay rate.
No legislation was enacted to withhold the pay adjustment for federal officials. (P.L. 106-
553 authorized the judicial salary adjustment.)
2002. Adjustment: 3.4%. (P.L. 107-77 authorized the judicial salary adjustment.)
2003. Adjustment: 3.1%. Projected 3.3% adjustment limited by GS base pay rate.
Judicial adjustment authorized P.L. 108-6.
2004. Scheduled adjustment: 2.2%. May be adjusted, temporarily, at 1.5% until
enactment of FY2004 appropriations measure which would retroactively establish the
January 2004 GS basic pay adjustment at 3.1%. In his August 2003 alternative plan, the
President called for the 1.5% adjustment in GS basic pay; that rate will govern absent
legislation. Judicial pay adjustment authorized under H.R. 3349, sent to the President
November 26, 2003.
Congressional Research Service ˜ The Library of Congress

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Table 1. Salaries of Federal Officials
Jan. 2004
Jan. 2004
Position
Jan. 2003
1.5%
2.2%
Legislative Branch
Vice President of the United States (President of the Senate)
$198,600
$201,600
$203,000
Speaker of the House of Representatives
198,600
201,600
203,000
President Pro Tempore of the Senate
171,900
174,500
175,700
Majority and Minority Leaders — House and Senate
171,900
174,500
175,700
Senators, Representatives, Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico,
and Delegates
154,700
157,000
158,100
Judicial Branch
Chief Justice of the United States
$198,600
$201,600
203,000
Associate Justices of the Supreme Court
190,100
193,000
194,300
Judges, U.S. Courts of Appeal
164,000
166,500
167,600
Judges, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces
164,000
166,500
167,600
Judges, U.S. District Courts
154,700
157,000
158,100
Judges, United States Claims Court
154,700
157,000
158,100
Judges, Court of International Trade
154,700
157,000
158,100
Judges, Tax Court of the United States
154,700
157,000
158,100
Bankruptcy Judges
142,300
144,400
145,500
Executive Branch
President of the United Statesa
$400,000
$400,000
$400,000
Executive Schedule
Level I:
Cabinet-level officials
$171,900
$174,500
$175,700
Level II: Deputy secretaries of departments, secretaries of
military departments, & heads of major agencies
154,700
157,000
158,100
Level III: Under secretaries of departments & heads of middle-
level agencies
142,500
144,600
145,600
Level IV: Assistant secretaries & general counsels of
departments, heads of minor agencies, members of certain boards
& commissions
134,000
136,000
137,000
Level V:
Administrators, commissioners, directors, & members
of boards, commissions, or units of agencies
125,400
127,300
128,200
Senior Executive Service (SES) Base Pay Rates Effective January 2003b
ES-1
$116,500
ES-2
$122,000
ES-3
$127,500
ES-4
$133,800
ES-5
$134,000
ES-6
$134,000
a. Effective noon, January 20, 2001.
b. Executive Order 13282, December 31, 2002, 68 Federal Register 1133. 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
2003. 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, $129,874; ES-2, $136,006; ES-3, $142,137; ES-4, $142,500; ES-5, $142,500; and ES-6,
$142,500. P.L. 108-136 (Nov. 24, 2003; 117 Stat. 1392) changes the cap and the pay setting system for SES. The
January 2004 pay adjustments are expected to reflect those changes.

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