poor pay for congressional staffers

[dawp]

A former top staffer in AOC's office said he left his position earlier this year mostly because he 'couldn't afford the job,' as the congresswoman fights for bigger budgets for staff paychecks

Dan Riffle was responding to a letter from lawmakers led by Ocasio-Cortez calling for a budget increase for House offices to pay staffers more.

www.businessinsider.com

Junior-level staffers can start out in the low $20,000s to $30,000s in a city where the average one-bedroom apartment costs more than $2,000 a month. Some have resorted to working second jobs.

they really need to up the pay when a senior staffer left the job because he got better pay in local government.

 

[MtnMan]

Madison Cawthorn's head of staff makes $127K

His previous job experience?

Running a firework stand in Texas.

Madison Cawthorn lead staffer makes $127,000 despite no experience, Republican source says

A top staffer for Rep. Madison Cawthorn is making the equivalent of a $127,111 salary despite having no government background and little other work experience.

www.citizen-times.com

 

[dawp]

Madison Cawthorn's head of staff makes $127K

His previous job experience?

Running a firework stand in Texas.

Madison Cawthorn lead staffer makes $127,000 despite no experience, Republican source says

A top staffer for Rep. Madison Cawthorn is making the equivalent of a $127,111 salary despite having no government background and little other work experience.

www.citizen-times.com

congress critters are given a budget to work with and it's up to them to decide who gets paid what and AOC, according to the article, raised her lowest seniority staffer and lowered her highest seniority staffers to equal it out.

 

[Wreckem]

Staff Assistant starting pay has been stuck at about $30-35k for the better part of 20 years. LAs are slightly better at $45k but not really livable in DC.

Most staffers have to go through the entire ladder. You don’t start making DC livable wages until you are a press secretary or legislative director. That’s $75kish. Chiefs of Staff are typically the only ones that crack six figures.

 

[K1052]

This is why there is a lot of turnover in those jobs, many people just can't afford to work them for long. The ones that can will usually come from well off families.