Right Now
While members of Congress have at times been accused of receiving excessive retirement payments while being exempt from contributing to Social Security and the congressional pension fund themselves, this is not in fact true.
A report by the non-partisan Congressional Research Service provides a summary of why, contrary to popular belief, members of Congress are currently required to participate in Social Security and have been since January 1984.
Key facts about retirement benefits for Members of Congress:
- Members of Congress first elected in 1984 or later are covered automatically under the Federal Employees' Retirement System (FERS) and required to participate in Social Security.
- Members of Congress also have the option of participating in the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) which is akin to a 401K plan.
- Congressional pensions are financed through a combination of employee and employer contributions, this includes Members of Congress.
- The amount of the congressional pension depends on years of service and the average of the highest three years of salary. By law, the starting amount of a Member's retirement annuity may not exceed 80% of his or her final salary.
Read the full CRS report here.
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 9/13/12 | Dr. Coburn's Amendments to the Veterans Job Corps Act of 2012 |
| 9/13/12 | Social Security Disability Programs: Improving the Quality of Benefit Award Decisions |
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 6/19/12 | Farm Bill Amendments Update |
| 6/12/12 | Dr. Coburn's Amendments to the S. 3240, Farm Bill |
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 7/27/11 | 9,000,000,000,000 Ways to Balance the Budget |
| 7/22/11 | Dr. Coburn on C-SPAN's Washington Journal This Morning |
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 4/13/11 | New Report Reveals Overbilling of Treasury Department by Law Firms, Misuse of TARP Funds |
| 4/4/11 | Dr. Coburn's amendments to cut spending by $20 billion |
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 11/17/10 | Today, Dr. Coburn filed two amendments to the Food Safety bill |
| 11/10/10 | Earmark Myths and Realities |
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 10/26/10 | What Others Are Saying About "Grim Diagnosis" |
| 10/7/10 | Dr. Coburn Not Holding Aid to Haiti |
| 10/4/10 | HHS ADMINISTRATIVE FAILURE |
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 2/22/10 | Guns in Parks Fact Sheet |
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 11/18/09 | Coburn's efforts to improve the Caregiver and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act |
| 11/5/09 | Facts about the Veterans Caregiver Bill |
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 8/6/09 | Clunkers for Charity |
| 8/4/09 | Coburn Amendments to the Agriculture Appropriations Bill |
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 6/16/09 | Dr. Coburn Releases Stimulus Oversight Report |
| 6/2/09 | Coburn Amendments to the Family Smoking and Prevention Act |
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 5/12/09 | Coburn Gun Amendments 1067 and 1068 |
| 5/5/09 | Coburn Offers Amendment to Dispose of Unneeded Federal Buildings |
| 5/1/09 | OMB Responds to Coburn's Letter on Transparency |
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 4/22/09 | Coburn Amendments to The Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act |
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 1/29/09 | Senate Rejects Opportunity to Provide Health Care to Needy Children at No Additional Cost |
| 1/7/09 | Senate Leaders to Kick Off New Congress with an Earmark-Laden Omnibus Lands Bill |
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 10/16/08 | Highlights of Senator Reid's Omnibus Lands Grab and Energy Restrictions Act Scheduled for Debate Next Month |
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 9/27/08 | Coburn Comments on the Fiscal Year 2009 Continuing Resolution |
| 9/26/08 | Reid Neglects Economy to Pursue Pet Projects |
| 9/17/08 | Reid's Monkey Business Continues |
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 8/21/08 | Coburn Applauds HHS Action on Physician Conscience Rights |
| 8/1/08 | Democrats Hold Civil Rights and Child Pornography Legislation as a Political Hostage |
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 6/20/08 | AMERICAN OIL REMAINS UNTOUCHED |
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 3/14/08 | Dr. Coburn's Efforts Fix GINA |
| 3/11/08 | Coburn's Speech on the 2009 Budget |
| 3/3/08 | Dr. Coburn Amendment to Ensure Scientists Conduct Research, Not Politicians |
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 2/14/08 | Dr. Coburn's amendments to fix the broken Indian Health Care system |
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 1/29/08 | Dr. Coburn's Federal Land Bill Amendments |
| 1/24/08 | Coburn's official visit to Taiwan |
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 8/28/07 | Congress celebrates the Year of the Golden Pig |
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 2/14/07 | Debating the continuing resolution |
| 2/7/07 | What's next for the War in Iraq? |
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 1/30/07 | Do we need to increase the federal mininum wage? |
| 1/12/07 | Real reform for the Senate ethics bill |
| 1/4/07 | The Coburn Principles |
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 12/14/06 | 109th Congress Convenes |
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 11/16/06 | Coburn amendments to the Agriculture Appropriations bill |
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 9/26/06 | Ryan White CARE Act Reauthorization |
| 9/26/06 | President Bush Signs Coburn/Obama Transparency Act |
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 8/23/06 | Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act |
| 8/2/06 | Coburn amendments to the Department of Defense Appropriations bill |
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 5/2/06 | Stop the Senate from approving non-emergency projects in the emergency supplemental |
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 12/14/05 | Dr. Coburn letter to HHS on Ryan White CARE Act formulas and ADAP funding |