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Article snippet: House Democrats are pulling a spending bill that would give lawmakers a pay raise for the first time in a decade amid a backlash from swing-district freshmen. The House is still slated to consider the rest of an appropriations package for other agencies, including the Defense and State departments, but not the section concerning legislative branch operations. A senior Democratic aide said that consideration of legislative branch spending will remain on hold as lawmakers discuss the pay raise issue. Close to a dozen vulnerable swing-district Democratic freshmen had submitted or co-sponsored amendments to block the pay raise, underscoring the sensitivity of the issue. Members of Congress have had their pay frozen since 2009, but some lawmakers in recent years, including House Majority Leader MORE (D-Md.), have advocated for returning to annual cost-of-living adjustments. The House was set to vote on a spending package that did not include language to block an annual cost-of-living adjustment as laid out by a 1989 ethics law. Members are poised to receive a $4,500, or 2.6 percent, raise starting in January 2020 unless they move to prevent it as they have over the last decade. Rank-and-file members of Congress currently earn $174,000 per year. Members of leadership earn more, with the Speaker making $223,500 annually and the House majority and minority leaders earning $193,400. The Congressional Research Service estimated that if members of Congress had received an... Link to the full article to read more