Attempt to Bar Raise Unlikely

Attempts to block the raise for top officials that has the effect of lifting salary caps typically come as amendments to the annual Treasury-Postal spending bill, and the House defeated an attempt to bring up such an amendment on a procedural vote. That outcome likely means that any attempt to block the raise won’t even be tried in the Senate; also, several powerful Senate appropriators generally back raises for high-level officials and could step in to block any such attempt. A 2003 raise would represent the fourth straight year that the raises were allowed. The congressional-judicial-appointee raise is set by an employment cost index measure differing from the one used in determining pay for rank and file employees.