Vice President Pence's pay bump is not as big as Republicans wanted

WASHINGTON – Vice President Mike Pence will be able to buy a few more suits – just not as many as he could have under a pay raise House Republicans tried to give him last year.

The spending bill Congress passed Thursday, which President Donald Trump has said he will sign, includes a 1.9 percent salary increase for Pence and other top executive branch officials.

Pence – who likes to joke that, in comparison to his wealthy boss, he comes from the "Joseph A. Bank wing of the West Wing" – is paid $230,700. That amount was frozen at 2010 levels.

The Trump administration has backed lifting the freeze in its annual budget requests to Congress. 

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House Republicans tried unsuccessfully for the last two years to make that happen.

Last year, the change was caught up in a dispute between Democrats and Republicans over whether to give civilian federal workers a 1.9 percent pay raise over Trump’s objections.

Lifting the freeze entirely would have boosted Pence's salary up to $243,500 to account for all the forgone annual adjustments. 

Instead, the deal reached this week includes a smaller 1.9 percent raise, the same amount included for all federal workers.

Pay for top officials was first frozen by President Barack Obama in 2011 as part of a two-year government-wide pay freeze to respond to the recession. Congress has continued the freeze in the annual spending bill that covers salaries.

Lawmakers have kept their own pay frozen at $174,000 since 2009.

Unlike the vice president, the president does not receive a cost-of-living increase. His salary is set at $400,000.

Trump, however, promised during the campaign not to take any pay. He’s been donating his quarterly salary to various federal departments and projects, including the Small Business Administration, the Veterans Administration and the National Park Service.

While Trump brags about his wealth, Pence makes self -deprecating comments about his thriftiness. He talked at the GOP congressional retreat last year about shopping at JoS. A. Bank Clothiers, the men's clothing company that frequently offers sales.

"Seriously, people stopped me and said, 'Is that a new suit?' And I said, 'Two for one,'" Pence said. 

On his most recent financial disclosure, Pence reported between $516,000 and $1 million in retirement funds, and a bank account valued at between $1,001 and $15,000. He had revolving credit card debt valued between $15,001 and $50,000 last year.

Pence, a former governor of Indiana and a six-term House member, does not own a home.