Elon Musk, a critical confidante to incoming president Donald J. Trump, whom he has chosen to monitor a trimming of public expenditure, played a vital role in derailing a bipartisan budget agreement. This came following his uninterrupted critiques regarding parts of the proposal throughout Wednesday. Musk utilised his social media platform, X, to express his dissatisfaction, making over 150 posts. Much of his efforts focused on urging Republicans to oppose the arrangement, a message he spread, in part, by circulating a series of incorrect assertions about what exactly the submitted bill included. Here, we take a deep dive and fact-check some of these claims.
Amidst his critique, Mr. Musk questioned the usage of the term ‘continuing resolution’ to designate the package, querying how it could be applicable when there’s a 40 percent pay increase for Congress outlined. As it turns out, the truth of this matter is rather overstated. The true adjustment projected in the spending assortment reveals a bump of just 3.8 percent for Congress members, a far cry from the purported 40 percent.
This incorrect speculation appears to have originated from a misread report of an article from Punchbowl News. Based in Washington, this media outlet specializes in dispatching information regarding congressional changes. The article in question highlighted that the salary for Congress members had been a stable figure since 2009, untouched by any increments till date. It further stated that the annual earnings for these positions over the past decade and a half have been maintained at a steady rate of $174,000.
According to the article, if the members’ compensation had been subject to annual adjustment linked to the cost of living since 2009, the salary would have been approximately 40 percent greater in the current year, translating to around $243,000. This assertion was made on the basis of an investigation report derived from the Congressional Research Service.
In reality, the annual adjustment of Congressional salaries, considering the cost of living, was provided for by a law passed back in 1989. This law decided the methodology to account for annual inflation-based adjustments, setting the representational metrics in terms of salaries. However, it’s important to note that there has been a constant freeze on such adjustments since 2009.
Year after year, the Congress itself has come up with laws, aiming to inhibit increments to its members’ pay, often nestling these enactments within wider spending policies. The evidence upholds that the maximum remuneration augmentation envisaged for January of 2025 is a modest 3.8 percent, or an increase by $6,600. This prognosis was extended by none other than the Congressional Research Service.