Senators’ Official Personnel and Office
November 5, 2020
Expense Account (SOPOEA): History and Usage Ida A. Brudnick
The Senators’ Official Personnel and Office Expense Account (SOPOEA) is available to
Specialist on the Congress
assist Senators in their official duties. The al owance is provided on a fiscal-year basis

(i.e., October 1-September 30). Funding is provided in the annual legislative branch
appropriations bil s.

Senators have a high degree of flexibility to use the SOPOEA to operate their offices in a way that supports their
congressional duties and responsibilities, and individual office spending may be as varied as the states from which
the Senators are elected.
Over the past decade, this appropriations account decreased for a number of years before remaining level for four
years and then increasing again. More specifical y, the SOPOEA decreased from $422.0 mil ion in FY2010 to
$390.0 mil ion in FY2014, a decrease of 7.6%. The appropriation remained at the FY2014 level in the FY2015,
FY2016, and FY2017 appropriations acts. The enacted level was $424.0 mil ion in FY2018 (+8.7%), $429.0
mil ion in FY2019 (+1.2%), and $449.0 mil ion in FY2020 (+4.7%).
In recent years, the total has included an al owance for interns ($5.0 mil ion in FY2019; and $6.0 mil ion in
FY2020).
The SOPOEA for each Senator is calculated based on three variables—the administrative and clerical assistance
al owance, the legislative assistance al owance, and the official office expense al owance. The formula results in a
single, consolidated al owance for each Senator that can be used to pay for any type of approved official expense,
subject to any regulations or limitations established by statute, Senate rules, the Senate Committee on Rules and
Administration, and the Senate Ethics Committee.
A preliminary list of SOPOEA levels shows a range in FY2020 of $3,436,535 to $5,421,200, depending on the
state. The average al owance is $3,738,775.
Pursuant to 2 U.S.C. §4108, Senate expenses are reported online biennial y on a fiscal-year basis in the Report of
the Secretary of the Senate.
This report provides a history of the SOPOEA and overview of recent developments, including funding levels. It
also analyzes actual SOPOEA spending patterns in recent years.
For a similar analysis of Member office budgets in the House of Representatives, see CRS Report R40962,
Members’ Representational Allowance: History and Usage, by Ida A. Brudnick.
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Senators’ Official Personnel and Office Expense Account (SOPOEA): History and Usage

ongressional office spending has been a regular topic of interest to Members of Congress,
constituents, academics, interest groups, and media organizations. Members choose how
C to alocate official funds and organize their offices and staff in a way to best represent
their constituents. Media reports and interest groups have addressed Member activities and
congressional spending on internal operations. A few scholars have also examined how Members
typical y spend their office al owances, analyzing spending within broader theories of
representation.1 Senate office spending patterns, which are the subject of this report, may be as
varied as the states Senators represent.
Senators operate their offices with funding from the Senators’ Official Personnel and Office
Expense Account (SOPOEA).2 The account may support, for example, salaries for staff in both
Washington, DC, and home state offices; official mail; travel between a Senator’s home state and
Washington, DC; equipment; and other goods and services. The al owance is provided on a fiscal-
year basis (October 1-September 30).
Senators have a high degree of flexibility to operate their offices in a way that supports their
congressional duties and responsibilities, although they operate within a number of restrictions
and regulations. The SOPOEA may only be used for official expenses and may not be used to
defray any personal, political, or campaign-related expenses. Additional guidelines and
regulations may be provided by Senate rules,3 the Senate Committee on Rules and
Administration,4 the Senate Ethics Committee,5 and statute.6
Senate expenses, including those supported by the SOPOEA, are reported biennial y in the Report
of the Secretary of the Senate and available online.7

1 For a study of spending by Senators, see David C.W. Parker and Craig Goodman, “Our State’s Never Had Better
Friends: Resource Allocation, Home Styles, and Dual Representation in the Senate,” Political Research Quarterly, vol.
66, no. 2 (June 2013), pp. 370-384. For a study of House Member spending, see David C.W. Parker and Craig
Goodman, “Making a Good Impression: Resource Allocation, Home Styles, and Washington Work,” Legislative
Studies Quarterly, vol. 34, no. 4 (November 2009), pp. 493 -524.
2 P.L. 100-137, Oct. 21, 1987, 101 Stat. 814, 2 U.S.C. §6313.
3 Available at http://www.rules.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=RulesOfSenateHome. In particular, Rule XXXVIII
(Prohibition on Unofficial Office Accounts); Rule XLII (Employment Practices); and Rule XLIII (Representation by
Members).
4 Guidelines from the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration may be found in the Senate Handbook,
“Amendments to Regulations Adopted by the Committee on Rules and Administration,” and other committee
communications. For example, see Senator Schumer, “ Amendments to Regulations Adopted by the Committee on
Rules and Administration,” Congressional Record, daily edition, June 12, 2012, p. S3970, which contains information
on Senate Office Building regulations, including the smoking policy, building hours, and building admission.
5 Guidelines from the Senate Ethics Committee may be found in the Senate Ethics Manual, “Dear Colleague” letters,
and other committee communications.
6 For example, the period of availability of funds is addressed in statute and discussed in GAO’s Principles of Federal
Appropriations Law, which states, “ Pursuant to law, late-arriving bills may be paid for up to two years following the
end of the fiscal year” (Chapter 5, Availability of Appropriations: T ime, Page 5-76: http://www.gao.gov/special.pubs/
3rdEditionVol1.pdf). See also 2 U.S.C. §4575, which addresses the “ Gross rate of compensation of employees paid by
Secretary of Senate,” and 2 U.S.C. §4571, which addresses “ Senate pay adjustments; action by President pro tempore
of Senate.” T he latter authorizes the Order of the President pro T empore, which establishes maximum and minimum
rates of pay for employees within various categories of Senate offices.
7 2 U.S.C. §4108. P.L. 103-283, the FY1995 Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, amended this section to require
summaries of each office’s account, stating the total amount of appropriations made available or allocated to the office;
any supplemental appropriation, transfer of funds, or rescission; total expenses incurred for salary and office expenses;
and the unexpended balance. During consideration of the FY2010 legislative branch appropriations bill ( H.R. 2918),
the Senate agreed to an amendment, S.Amdt. 1369, offered by Senator Coburn, adding a provision to this section
requiring the online publication of the reports in a “ searchable, itemized format .” T he provision was subsequently
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This report provides a history of the SOPOEA and overview of recent developments, including
recent funding. It also analyzes actual SOPOEA spending patterns in recent years for al Senators
who served for a defined period.8 Spending and practices across offices and across time may vary.
In addition to resources provided through the SOPOEA, various Senate support offices, including
the Secretary of the Senate and Sergeant at Arms, also provide services and resources to support
Senators but are not considered in this report.9 For additional information, see CRS Report
R43532, Offices and Officials in the Senate: Roles and Duties, by Ida A. Brudnick.
For a similar analysis of Member budgets in the House of Representatives, see CRS Report
R40962, Members’ Representational Allowance: History and Usage, by Ida A. Brudnick.
Background, Establishment, and Calculation
Senators have long been provided with resources to support their official duties. For example,
Senators have been reimbursed for trips to their states10 and provided funds for staffing
assistance11 and maintaining home state offices.12
The level and means of providing this assistance has changed over time. For many years, funding
for different types of expenses was provided in separate appropriations accounts. The current
consolidated SOPOEA system was established in 1987 and effective January 1, 1988.13 It
followed efforts during the previous decade to move to a system of increased flexibility for
Senators in directing their individual office operations.14 The report from the Senate Committee
on Rules and Administration accompanying the bil establishing the SOPOEA (S. 1574) stated
that the move “would al ow Members to set their own priorities and react accordingly.”15

included in the law enacted on October 1, 2009 (P.L. 111-68). Reports since the period covering April 1, 2011 -
September 30, 2011, are available at http://www.senate.gov/legislative/common/generic/report_secsen.htm.
8 Data exclude Senators who were not in office for the entirety of the fiscal year.
9 T hese include funds operated by the Sergeant at Arms, including the Economic Allocation Fund (for information
technology and other equipment), the Numeric Allocation Program (for telecom equipment) and the Constituent
Service System Fund (hardware and software to support approved systems). Rental charges for home state offices are
paid for by the Senate Sergeant at Arms. For information on authorization for procurement and p ayment of certain
services, including home state office space and furniture, see 2 U.S.C. §6313 et seq.
10 For example, “An Act for allowing full mileage to the members of the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States” was enacted on July 6, 1797 (1 Stat. 533, ch. 13).
11 Senators who were not chairmen of committees were first provided clerical assistance, at a rate of $6 a day when the
Senate was in session, in 1884 (23 Stat. 249). Committees had previously been provided staffing assistance ( an “ act
making appropriations for the legislative, executive, and judicial expenses of government for the year ending June 30,
1857” provided funding for “clerks to committees” and the Senate Fin ance Committee in particular [11 Stat. 103]).
12 June 14, 1948, ch. 467, 62 Stat. 425. See also former 2 U.S.C. §52 (repealed) for a list of additional laws.
13 P.L. 100-137, October 21, 1987, 101 Stat. 814, 2 U.S.C. §6313.
14 Prior to the 1987 legislation, funding for these items was contained within separate line-items for “ administrative,
clerical and legislative assistance to Senators” and “ agency contributions,” (both within the heading “ salaries, officers
and employees”) and “official office expense allowances” (in the Senate appropriation account “Miscellaneous Items,”
under the heading “Contingent Expenses of the Senate”). T he “ administrative, clerical and legislative assistance to
Senators” line-item was itself a consolidation, effective October 1, 1977, of two previously separate allowances, the
Administrative and Clerical Assistance Allowance and the Legislative Assistance Allowance. See U.S. Congress,
Senate, Committee on Appropriations, Legislative Branch Appropriations, 1978, report to accompany H.R. 7932.
S.Rept. 95-338, 95th Cong., 1st Sess. (Washington, GPO: 1977); and P.L. 95-94, 91 Stat. 662-663, August 5, 1977. T he
Senate, in the early 1980s, also provided for limited transfer authority between the accounts (see former section 2
U.S.C. §58b).
15 U.S. Congress, Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, Combining the Senators’ Clerk Hire Allowance and
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Periodical y, legislation has been introduced to amend the SOPOEA. The legislation has sought to
regulate, prohibit, authorize, reduce, or encourage the use of funds for a particular purpose or to
alter the SOPOEA in response to other action; increase transparency; or govern the use of
unexpended balances. With few exceptions, however, no further action has been taken on these
bil s, and revisions to the SOPOEA general y have been made through the appropriations acts or
internal procedures.16
The annual reports issued by the Senate Appropriations Committee accompanying the legislative
branch appropriations bil general y provide preliminary SOPOEA al ocation information for the
upcoming fiscal year in a table arranged by state.17 The reports also general y indicate the total
amount of agency contributions18 anticipated by the request and the number of individuals
employed by this account.19 The legislative branch appropriations acts have also periodical y
adjusted limits on “the aggregate of gross compensation paid employees in the office of a
Senator,” which is based on population of the state.20
The SOPOEA al ocation for each Senator is calculated based on three components:
 administrative and clerical assistance allowance. This al owance has been based
on state population since 1940,21 with the current system dating to 1967.22 Today,
25 population categories exist, ranging from populations below 5 mil ion to over
28 mil ion.23 The preliminary figures in the FY2020 Senate report (S.Rept. 116-

the Senators’ Official Office Expense Account into a Combined Single Account to be Known as the ‘Senators’ Official
Personnel and Office Expense Account ,’ report to accompany S. 1574, 100th Cong., 1st sess., July 30, 1987, S.Rept.
100-134 (Washington: GPO, 1987).
16 For legislation introduced in the Senate mentioning the SOPOEA, see, for example, the following: in the 115th
Congress, S. 2917, S. 2236, and S. 2872; in the 114th Congress, S. 3327; in the 112th Congress, S. 81; in the 111th
Congress, S. 1808 and S. 3335 (S.Rept. 111-365); in the 110th Congress, S. 1 (which became P.L. 110-81); in the 108th
Congress, S. 3741; and in the 103rd Congress, S. 1287. Other bills have been introduced in the House that would affect
both House and Senate allowances, for example: in the 116 th Congress, H.R. 577 and H.R. 1626; in the 115th Congress,
H.R. 839, H.R. 2951, and H.R. 6640; in the 114th Congress, H.R. 1873 and H.R. 5741; and in the 113th Congress, H.R.
4872 and H.Con.Res. 113. For additional information on recent provisions in appropriations acts, see “ Appropriations
Acts: Administrative Provisions and Report Language Related to Unexpended Balances.”
17 T he committee reports generally state: “It should also be noted that the figures in the following table are preliminary,
and that official notification of member budgets is issued by the Financial Clerk of the Senate after enactment of this
bill.” For example, see U.S. Congress, Senate Committee on Appropriations, Legislative Branch Appropriations, 2020,
report to accompany S. 2581, S.Rept. 116-124, 116th Cong., 1st sess., (Washington: GPO, 2019), p. 24.
18 Agency contributions include any government contributions as an employer toward health and life insurance,
retirement , and FICA. T hese contributions are funded in the SOPOEA account but separate from each Senator’s
individual authorization.
19 For example, see U.S. Congress, Senate Committee on Appropriations, Legislative Branch Appropriations, 2020,
report to accompany S. 2581, S.Rept. 116-124, 116th Cong., 1st sess., (Washington: GPO, 2019), p. 24.
20 For example, see the FY2010 Legislative Branch Appropriations Act (P.L. 111-68, Oct. 1, 2009, 123 Stat. 2026) and
the FY2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act (P.L. 111-8, March 11, 2009, 123 Stat. 814). Additional adjustments
authorized in the Order of the President pro T emp ore. For additional adjustment information, including a history of
adjustments in the appropriations acts and in the Orders, see notes accompanying 2 U.S.C. §4575. See also a general
provision in P.L. 116-94 adjust ing the maximum rates of compensation for certain congressional staff .
21 P.L. 76-641, June 18, 1940, 54 Stat. 464.
22 P.L. 90-57, July 28, 1967, 81 Stat. 141-144; 2 U.S.C. §4575. T he Senate Appropriations Committee report from that
year discusses the changes and contains a table for the allowances for the various population categories as well as has
an “anticipated ... saving of approximately 3 percent, based upon a historic nonuse of all basic allowances by all
Senators.” (U.S. Congress, Senate Appropriations Committee, Legislative Branch Appropriations, 1968, report to
accompany H.R. 10368, 90th Cong., 1st sess., June 29, 1967, S.Rept. 90-393 (Washington: GPO, 1967), pp. 5 -8).
23 2 U.S.C. §4575.
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124) showed this al owance varies from $2,798,783 for a Senator representing a
state with a population under 5 mil ion to $4,448,075 for a Senator representing a
state with a population of 28 mil ion or more.24
 legislative assistance allowance. This al owance was first authorized in 1975 and
revised in 1977.25 It was designed to provide Senators with support for their
committee assignments, and it was established after lengthy hearings and debates
regarding the level and division of Senate staffing resources devoted to
committee work.26 The al owance is calculated based on salaries for three
employees at a set rate, and it is the same for al Senators.27 According to the
FY2020 Senate report (S.Rept. 116-124), the legislative assistance component of
the SOPOEA was $508,377.28
 official office expense allowance, which varies by state depending on the distance
between Washington, DC, and the home state, the population of the state, and the
official (franked) mail al ocation. According to S.Rept. 116-124, the FY2020
office expense al owance component ranged from $129,375 to $464,748.
The three components result in a single SOPOEA authorization for each Senator that can be used
to pay for any type of official expense. Each Senator can choose how much to al ocate to various
types of expenses (e.g., travel, personnel, or supplies), although additional limits pertain to
spending on franked mail.29 Each Senator may also determine the number, job title, location, and
duties of staff within his or her office.
The SOPOEA al ocation formula results in varying levels depending on the state from which a
Senator is elected. Both Senators from a state receive the same al ocation.

24 Ibid., pp. 24-25. T he Senate Appropriations Committee has not issued a FY2021 legislative branch appropriations
report, and the legislative branch is operating on a continuing appropriations resolution through December 11, 2020
(P.L. 116-159).
25 S.Res. 60 (94th Cong); P.L. 94-59 (July 25, 1975, 89 Stat. 274-5, 276-8); P.L. 95-26 (May 4, 1977, 91 Stat. 83); and
P.L. 95-94, Aug. 5, 1977, 91 Stat. 662.
26 T he debates on the establishment of the legislative assistance allowance provide a lengthy discussion of the
appropriate means of providing Senators with support for their committee responsibilities as well as challenges. U.S.
Congress, Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, Hearings on S.Res. 60 and S.Res. 110, Authorizing Each
Member of the Senate to Employ Additional Assistants to Work on Matters Pertaining to Committees on Which
Senators Serve, 94th Cong., 1st sess., April 30, 1975 and May 20, 1975 (Washington: GPO, 1975); U.S. Congress,
Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, Additional Senate Com mittee Em ployees, report to accompany S.Res.
60, 94th Cong., 1st sess., June 5, 1975, S.Rept. 94-185 (Washington: GPO, 1975); “ Additional Senate Committee
Employees,” Remarks in the Senate, Congressional Record, vol. 121, June 11, 1975, pp. p.18299-18408.
27 Originally proposed to assist Senators without access to significant committee staffing and resources, the legislative
assistance allowance was reduced for any chair or ranking member of a full committee or subcommittee with control
over funding for staffing in its earliest years. T he distinction between committee leaders and other Senators, however,
was suspended (S.Res. 85, §23 [99th Cong.] and S.Res. 34 [100th Cong.]) and then repealed with the enactment of the
SOPOEA. T his allowance is one of the three components of the SOPOEA, although the Senate Appropriations
Committee reports accompanying the annual ap propriations bills state, “ that the amounts provided for the various
components of the SOPOEA are interchangeable” (U.S. Congress, Senate Committee on Appropriations, Legislative
Branch Appropriations, 2020, report to accompany S. 2581, S.Rept. 116-124, 116th Cong., 1st sess., (Washington:
GPO, 2019), pp. 24-25).
28 Ibid.
29 For example, mass mailings may not exceed $50,000 per fiscal year, and additional official mail regulations may be
established in statute, regulations and rules of the Senate, the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, and the
Senate Ethics Committee (FY1995 Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, P.L. 103-283, July 22, 1994, 108 Stat.
1427, 39 U.S.C. §3210).
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Figure 1 demonstrates the variation in authorization levels that has resulted from the SOPOEA
al ocation formula from FY1996 through FY2020.
For FY2020, SOPOEA levels ranged from $3,436,535 to $5,421,200. The difference between the
median level ($3,529,330) and the average ($3,738,775) for FY2020 demonstrates the cluster of
similar al ocation levels for many states, with a larger differential for some of the larger states.
Figure 1. SOPOEA Allowances: Maximum, Minimum, Average, and Median
FY1996-FY2020, not adjusted for inflation

Source: CRS calculations based on tables included in the Senate Appropriations Committee reports
accompanying the annual legislative branch appropriations bil . Since the FY1996 report, these reports have
general y provided preliminary information on the SOPOEA al ocation for Senators from each state for the
upcoming fiscal year. The committee reports note “that official notification of member budgets is issued by the
Financial Clerk of the Senate after enactment of” the appropriations act. (For example, U.S. Congress, Senate
Committee on Appropriations, Legislative Branch Appropriations, 2020, report to accompany S. 2581, S.Rept. 116-
124, 116th Cong., 1st sess., (Washington: GPO, 2019), pp. 24-25.) The Senate Appropriations Committee did not
issue a committee report for FY2009. The FY2011 Senate report preceded the reductions included in P.L. 112-
10. The Senate Appropriations Committee has not issued a FY2021 legislative branch appropriations report, and
the legislative branch is operating on a continuing appropriations resolution through December 11, 2020 ( P.L.
116-159).
Note: The “median” is the middle value. Because the Senate has an even number of SOPOEA levels
(representing the 50 states, with this level provided to each of the Senators from that state), the median is the
average of the two middle values (i.e., the states with the 25th and 26th values).
SOPOEA Appropriations: History
The SOPOEA for al Senators is funded in one line-item within the “Contingent Expenses of the
Senate” account in the annual legislative branch appropriations bil s.
As seen in Figure 2, this appropriations account decreased for a number of years, from $422.0
mil ion in FY2010 to $390.0 mil ion in FY2014, a decrease of 7.6%.
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The FY2014 level was continued in FY2015, FY2016 and FY2017.
Subsequently:
 the FY2018 enacted level of $424.0 mil ion represented an increase of 8.7% (and
$2.0 mil ion above the FY2010 enacted level);
 the FY2019 enacted level of $429.0 mil ion represented an increase of 1.2%; and
 the FY2020 enacted level of $449.0 mil ion represented an increase of 4.7%.
Pursuant to P.L. 116-159, the legislative branch has been operating on a continuing appropriations
resolution through December 11, 2020.
Since FY2019, the SOPOEA total has included an al owance for interns ($5.0 mil ion in FY2019;
and $6.0 mil ion in FY2020).
Adjusted for inflation, the FY2020 level is approximately equivalent to the FY2008 level.
Figure 2. Fiscal Year Appropriations for the SOPOEA: Current and Constant Dollars
(FY1996-FY2020)

Source: CRS calculations based upon annual legislative branch appropriations acts, including supplemental
appropriations and rescissions. Constant dol ars calculated using the Consumer Price Index for Al Urban
Consumers (CPI-U, Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor). Base year = 2020.
The SOPOEA appropriations account includes agency contributions for benefits provided to
employees paid by this account. As stated above, it does not include certain services provided to
Senators from other accounts. This may include, for example, services or al owances provided by
the Sergeant at Arms and Doorkeeper of the Senate, the Secretary of the Senate, or the Architect
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of the Capitol. In addition, the SOPOEA does not include salaries for Senators, which are
provided separately through a permanent appropriation.30
Appropriations Acts: Administrative Provisions and
Report Language Related to Unexpended Balances
For many years, the Senate Appropriations Committee reports on the annual legislative branch
appropriations bil have contained language stating that the prudence of Senators in SOPOEA
spending has been factored into the recommended level for this account. For example, the
FY2020 report states,31
The amount recommended by the Committee for the SOPOEA is less than would be
required to cover all obligations that could be incurred under the authorized allowances for
all Senators. The Committee is able to recommend an appropriation of a lesser amount than
potentially necessary because Senators typically do not obligate funds up to the absolute
ceiling of their respective allowances.
The FY2016 Consolidated Appropriations Act contained a new administrative provision
“requiring amounts remaining in Senators’ official personnel and office expense account to be
used for deficit reduction or to reduce the federal debt.”32 This provision was included in
subsequent legislative branch appropriations acts.

30 P.L. 97-51, 95 Stat. 966, September 11, 1981.
31 U.S. Congress, Senate Committee on Appropriations, Legislative Branch Appropriations, 2020, report to accompany
S. 2581, S.Rept. 116-124, 116th Cong., 1st sess., (Washington: GPO, 2019), pp. 24-25.
32 P.L. 114-113, December 18, 2016. A similar administrative provision was previously included in the Senate
Appropriations Committee’s reported version of the bill (H.R. 2250). Chapter 5, “ Availability of Appropriations:
T ime” of the Government Accountability Office’s Principles Of Federal Appropriations Law provides some
background information on T reasury operations and the treatment of closed appropriations: “ We commonly talk about
‘returning’ appropriation balances to the T reasury. In point of fact, for the most part, they never leave the T reasury to
begin with. An appropriation does not represent cash actually set aside in the T reasury. Government obligations are
liquidated as needed through revenues and borrowing. T hus, the reversion of funds to the T reasury is not a movement
of actual cash, but a bookkeeping adjustment that in the various ways discussed in the text, affects the government ’s
legal authority to incur obligations and make expenditures.” United States General Accounting Office, Principles of
Federal Appropriations Law, T hird Edition, vol. I, January 2004, http://www.gao.gov/special.pubs/3rdEditionVol1.pdf,
pp. 5-73. A similar administrative provision related to the Members’ Representational Allowance (MRA) —which
supports office operations for Members of the House—has been included in the House of Representatives section of the
appropriations acts for many years. For additional information, see “ Appropriations Acts: Administrative Provisions
Related to Unexpended Balances” in CRS Report R40962, Mem bers’ Representational Allowance: History and Usage,
by Ida A. Brudnick.
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The SOPOEA in Practice: An Analysis of Spending
in Selected Years
Data
The analysis below demonstrates the use of the SOPOEA from FY2009 to FY2019.33 Data were
collected from the Report of the Secretary of the Senate. 34
Because late-arriving bil s may be paid for up to two years following the end of the SOPOEA
year, information for most fiscal years was obtained from the report issued two years following
that fiscal year. Information for fiscal years 2018 and 2019 is preliminary.
The data exclude Senators who were not in Congress for the entirety of the fiscal year of study
(i.e., if the Senator died, resigned, retired, was appointed, or left or entered Congress following an
election, that Senator’s expenditures for that fiscal year were excluded).
SOPOEA spending is recorded in the Report of the Secretary of the Senate according to the
following categories:
 net payroll expenses,
 travel and transportation of persons,
 rent, communications, and utilities,
 printing and reproduction,
 other contractual services,
 supplies and materials,
 acquisition of assets, and
 transportation of things.
This classification system is similar, but not identical, to that established by the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB).35
Findings
The tables and figure below examine spending in the aggregate by al Senators and then as a
distribution using office-level data in personal offices. Senators have broad flexibility to operate

33 P.L. 111-68, 2 U.S.C. §4108. Reports since the period covering April 1, 2011 -September 30, 2011, are available at
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/common/generic/report_secsen.htm. Each report contains information on the prior
two fiscal years, so the initial report allows for the capturing of FY2009 and FY2010 data.
34 T he two-year period for late receipts for Congress is shorter relative to annual appropriations for much of the rest of
the federal government, which is subject to a five-year period (31 U.S.C. §1551 et al.). T his is discussed in the
Government Accountability Office’s Principles of Federal Appropriations Law. T his publication states: “ For
appropriations of the House and Senate, unobligated balances more than two years old cannot be used short of an act of
Congress. Instead, obligations chargeable to appropriations that have been expired for more than 2 years ‘shall be
liquidated from any appropriations for the same general purpose, which, at the time of payment, are available for
disbursement.’ 2 U.S.C. §102a.” United States General Accounting Office, Principles of Federal Appropriations Law,
T hird Edition, vol. I, January 2004, http://www.gao.gov/special.pubs/3rdEditionVol1.pdf, pp. 5-76-5-77.
35 See U.S. Office of Management and Budget, OMB Circular A-11, 2020 edition, https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/
information-for-agencies/circulars/.
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their offices in the manner that best represents the states from which they are elected, and
aggregate Senate data may not be typical or representative of any individual Senator’s office.
Despite these flexibilities, the data show a relative consistency in the overal al ocation of
SOPOEA resources by category of spending both across Senators and over time.
As seen in Figure 3, the largest category of spending in al years examined, accounting for 90%
of total SOPOEA spending by al Senators, is for personnel compensation (i.e., net payroll
expenses).
Table 1 provides a distributional analysis at the individual office level by spending category. As
with the Senate-wide data depicted in Figure 3, the office-level data indicate that personnel
compensation is by far the largest category of expense for Senators’ offices (for FY2009-FY2019,
both the average and the median of payroll expenses, as a percentage of the individual
authorization rather than al expenditures, is approximately 82%).
Figure 3. Aggregate Expenditures by Category, FY2009-FY2019

Source: CRS calculations based on the semiannual Report of the Secretary of the Senate.
Notes: Data exclude Senators who were not in Congress for the entirety of a given fiscal year. Information for
fiscal years 2018 and 2019 is preliminary. A much smal er category, “transportation of things,” is not included in
this figure.
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Senators’ Official Personnel and Office Expense Account (SOPOEA): History and Usage

Table 1. Distribution of Individual Office-Level Spending by Category
expenditure on select categories of spending, as a percentage of total authorization
Lower
Average
Quartile
Median
Upper Quartile
Year
Minimum
(mean)
Maximum
(25th%)
(50th%)
(75th%)

Net Payrol Expenses
2009
54.2%
81.5%
93.7%
78.3%
81.9%
86.7%

2010
51.4%
80.9%
93.5%
77.0%
81.8%
86.8%

2011
53.0%
83.1%
93.5%
79.7%
84.0%
87.9%

2012
56.0%
82.5%
94.1%
78.8%
82.9%
87.3%

2013
57.3%
80.8%
91.6%
77.5%
81.8%
84.9%

2014
52.7%
79.7%
95.1%
76.1%
79.8%
83.3%

2015
53.8%
82.1%
94.1%
78.4%
84.0%
86.9%

2016
57.8%
82.0%
94.8%
77.1%
83.8%
87.5%

2017
62.7%
83.1%
94.9%
78.6%
83.9%
88.6%

2018
64.6%
79.6%
92.5%
74.4%
80.0%
85.3%

2019
52.2%
80.7%
92.0%
75.0%
81.7%
87.0%
Travel
2009
0.9%
4.2%
9.1%
2.5%
4.0%
5.3%

2010
0.9%
3.9%
9.4%
2.4%
3.5%
5.1%

2011
0.8%
4.1%
10.5%
2.8%
3.6%
5.4%

2012
0.7%
3.9%
10.8%
2.5%
3.5%
4.8%

2013
0.5%
3.7%
10.5%
2.4%
3.4%
4.5%

2014
0.5%
3.7%
9.9%
2.5%
3.5%
4.6%

2015
0.6%
4.0%
11.7%
2.6%
3.7%
5.1%

2016
0.4%
4.1%
13.3%
2.7%
3.9%
4.7%

2017
0.8%
4.1%
10.8%
2.7%
4.0%
5.2%

2018
0.9%
3.7%
13.0%
2.3%
3.5%
4.7%

2019
0.4%
3.6%
11.6%
2.0%
3.5%
4.7%
Rent,
2009
1.0%
3.0%
19.7%
1.8%
2.3%
3.6%
Communications,
and Utilities
2010
0.0%
2.9%
20.2%
1.8%
2.3%
3.4%
2011
0.9%
2.6%
14.7%
1.7%
2.2%
3.0%

2012
0.8%
2.5%
15.1%
1.5%
2.0%
2.9%

2013
0.8%
2.2%
16.1%
1.4%
1.9%
2.4%

2014
0.8%
2.2%
20.6%
1.3%
1.6%
2.2%

2015
0.8%
2.3%
24.6%
1.3%
1.6%
2.2%

2016
0.7%
2.2%
8.1%
1.3%
1.7%
2.5%

2017
0.7%
2.1%
8.1%
1.4%
1.6%
2.3%

2018
0.6%
1.9%
7.1%
1.2%
1.5%
2.3%

2019
0.6%
1.4%
5.1%
1.0%
1.2%
1.6%

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link to page 15 Senators’ Official Personnel and Office Expense Account (SOPOEA): History and Usage

Lower
Average
Quartile
Median
Upper Quartile
Year
Minimum
(mean)
Maximum
(25th%)
(50th%)
(75th%)

Supplies and
2009
0.6%
1.7%
4.1%
1.2%
1.6%
2.0%
Materials
2010
0.0%
1.5%
3.7%
1.0%
1.5%
2.0%
2011
0.5%
1.7%
3.9%
1.2%
1.7%
2.0%

2012
0.4%
1.5%
3.4%
1.1%
1.4%
1.8%

2013
0.4%
1.6%
4.0%
1.1%
1.4%
1.9%

2014
0.5%
1.5%
6.6%
1.0%
1.4%
1.8%

2015
0.5%
1.8%
5.7%
1.2%
1.6%
2.2%

2016
0.3%
1.6%
6.4%
1.0%
1.4%
1.8%

2017
0.0%
1.9%
6.0%
1.1%
1.5%
2.2%

2018
0.5%
1.7%
7.5%
1.0%
1.4%
2.0%

2019
0.1%
1.1%
3.2%
0.7%
1.1%
1.4%
Printing and
2009
0.0%
0.0%
0.3%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
Reproduction
2010
0.0%
0.0%
0.4%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%

2011
0.0%
0.0%
0.3%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%

2012
0.0%
0.0%
0.2%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%

2013
0.0%
0.0%
0.2%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%

2014
0.0%
0.0%
0.2%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%

2015
0.0%
0.0%
0.3%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%

2016
0.0%
0.0%
0.1%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%

2017
0.0%
0.0%
0.1%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%

2018
0.0%
0.0%
0.1%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%

2019
0.0%
0.0%
0.2%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
Source: CRS calculations based on the semiannual Report of the Secretary of the Senate. Calculation is based on
the total individual authorization.
Notes: Data exclude Senators who were not in Congress for the entirety of the fiscal year. The mean
represents the average, while the median represents the middle value (i.e., 50th percentile). Spending rates of less
than 0.1% are displayed as 0.0%, although some expenditures may have occurred. Information for fiscal years
2018 and 2019 is preliminary. The table does not include even smal er categories, including “Other Contractual
Services” and “Transportation of Things.”
Table 2 shows spending as a proportion of the total individual authorization from 2009 to 2019.
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Senators’ Official Personnel and Office Expense Account (SOPOEA): History and Usage

Table 2. Distribution of Office-Level Spending as a Percentage of Individual SOPOEA
Authorizations
Lower Quartile
Median
Upper Quartile
(25th
(50th
Average
(75th
Year
percentile)
percentile)
(mean)
percentile)
2009
88.7%
92.9%
91.6%
97.3%
2010
87.2%
91.3%
90.5%
95.9%
2011
88.3%
93.9%
92.3%
97.6%
2012
87.8%
92.0%
91.1%
96.2%
2013
85.6%
91.0%
88.8%
92.8%
2014
84.1%
89.3%
88.3%
92.6%
2015
87.4%
93.4%
91.3%
96.4%
2016
88.1%
92.0%
90.8%
95.9%
2017
88.5%
93.4%
92.2%
97.3%
2018
82.8%
89.0%
88.1%
93.8%
2019
82.0%
89.0%
87.3%
92.7%
Source: CRS calculations based on the semiannual Report of the Secretary of the Senate.
Notes: Data exclude Senators who were not in Congress for the entirety of the fiscal year. Information for
fiscal years 2018 and 2019 is preliminary.

Author Information

Ida A. Brudnick

Specialist on the Congress

Acknowledgments
William T. Egar, Sarah J. Eckman, and Lara E. Chausow assisted in data collection and the preparation of
this report.
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Senators’ Official Personnel and Office Expense Account (SOPOEA): History and Usage

Disclaimer
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Congressional Research Service
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