OTHER ACTION
• Senate supporters of the long-delayed Keystone XL pipeline conceded Thursday they lack the 60 votes necessary to pass legislation authorizing immediate construction of the project, but said they remain hopeful of prevailing. “At this point we’re still working to get 60,” said Sen. John Hoeven. R-N.D., as he and Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., introduced a bipartisan bill to end the delays and build the proposed oil pipeline from Canada to the United States. Landrieu and Hoeven said the legislation has the support of 11 Democrats and all 45 of the Senate’s Republicans, a total of 56 of the 60 that will be needed.
• Congressional Republicans and Democrats who rebuff this year’s budget-driven Pentagon cuts in aircraft, ships, bases and benefits put the military at risk of being less than ready for the next crisis, Rep. Adam Smith of Washington, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, said Thursday. Smith called on his colleagues to accept the Pentagon’s plea for another round of defense base closures, cuts in the A-10 Warthog fleet, trims in military benefits and other budget proposals, and warned that a congressional scramble to spare the programs will force the military to reduce the resources used to train the force.
— Associated Press
House lawmakers voted for the sixth year in a row on Thursday to deny themselves the cost-of-living pay hike that they would otherwise automatically receive next January.
The move would freeze congressional salaries at $174,000 a year and is attached to legislation to fund Congress’ budget, which passed the House by a 402-14 vote. Lawmakers haven’t received a pay hike since January 2009.
Bipartisan reforms enacted in 1989 gave lawmakers a big pay increase in exchange for dropping the much-criticized practice of accepting money from outside interest groups for speeches.
That legislation also awarded lawmakers annual cost-of-living pay increases, which meant that lawmakers no longer had to cast politically toxic votes to raise their pay.
Congress accepted the annual increase during the 1990s and for most of the 2000s but has voted since 2008, the first full year of the Great Recession, to deny itself the raise.
The scheduled 1.6 percent hike would give lawmakers a raise of about $2,800.
The congressional salary is generous but many lawmakers make only a fraction of the money paid to the lobbyists who meet with them. In addition, steep housing prices in the Washington area can be a hardship for lawmakers, more than a few of whom sleep in their offices during the three nights a week they typically are in Washington.
In debate on Thursday, a veteran lawmakers who is retiring protested that freezing lawmakers’ salaries would make it more difficult for people of modest means, like teachers, veterans, and younger people with small children, to serve in Congress. And sticking the provision to block the increase into the legislative branch spending measure, said Rep. James Moran, D-Va., sets “a precedent that is going to be very difficult to reverse.”
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Also Thursday, the House rejected an attempt by Rep. Rich Nugent, R-Fla., to block lawmakers from using their official office budgets to lease automobiles. Cole said 63 members lease cars and that some members have found it is more economical to do that than to opt for mileage reimbursements.
The underlying congressional funding bill freezes Congress’ budget at current levels. Since Republicans took control of the House in 2011, the chamber’s budget has been reduced by 14 percent after sizable increases under Democratic control. It includes $21 million to complete a restoration of the iconic iron dome of the Capitol, which dates to the Civil War and contains many cracks.
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