Elizabeth Warren says lawmakers need a raise so that Congress isn't 'the plaything of multimillionaires and billionaires'

• Sen. Elizabeth Warren is backing a pay raise for members of Congress.
• "Congress should not be the plaything of multimillionaires and billionaires," she told BI.
• But she also emphasized that congressional staff need a raise even more.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren is joining calls for members of Congress to get a pay raise.

"Everyone working in government should be paid more: members of Congress and their staffs," the Massachusetts Democrat told Business Insider this week.

"Congress should not be the plaything of multimillionaires and billionaires who've already secured their fortunes and don't care about earning a living to support their families," she added.

Warren has a point: Many members of Congress are extraordinarily wealthy, and as recently as a few years ago, most were millionaires, because those are the people who have the resources to run.

Like others, Warren cited the unique costs that come with being a member of Congress, including the need to maintain "two homes… in two different parts of the country."

"I understand that no one wants to waste taxpayer dollars, but Congress needs to be more realistic about what it takes to attract the top people to public service across the board, and how to keep them engaged throughout their careers," she said.

Republican Rep. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina made a similar point in an interview last week, and Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York has long been vocal on the issue.

Since 2009, members of the House and Senate have been paid an annual salary of $174,000.

Though that's more than 80% of American households make, it's a salary that hasn't kept pace with inflation, and one that has left members of Congress unable to pay the bills at times, given the demands of the job.

But Warren, who makes plenty of money via book sales, was even more adamant when it came to the need to raise pay for congressional staff.

"The United States government runs right now on voluntary contributions of Washington staffers who could be making twice the money, working half the hours, on the private side," said Warren, who even made increasing congressional pay a part of her 2020 presidential campaign.

And that's an area of bipartisan concern.

Republican Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, who opposes a raise for lawmakers, told BI this past week that senior staff are "almost always gonna get poached by a lobbying firm because we can't possibly compete with their salary."

While members of Congress have some control over what their own staff make, they have a finite budget, limiting the amount of money they can pay for some of the most important roles in government.

"My view is that we should have substantially larger budgets," said Vance.