Congressional Staffers Are Being Paid Less Than Ever

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I’ve had this in an open tab for a couple of days, but it’s too interesting to close out without sharing:

This is from Josh McCrain, a grad student at Emory. For some reason, salaries for congressional aides have been declining for the past two decades. (All figures are adjusted for inflation.) The only exception is for staff assistants, who can hardly be paid any less.

Why? I have no theories. Maybe in the same way that Silicon Valley engineers are attracted by stock options more than salary, congressional aides these days are attracted mostly by post-Congress lobbying opportunities. Anybody have any other ideas?

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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