Biggest Congressional Spenders

Perks come with being a member of Congress—among them, a million-dollar office budget for each member. As part of Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s push for transparency, the House for the first time has published its spending online—data that was then made searchable by the Sunlight Foundation. It’s now easy to know how Congress is spending the nearly $5 billion it allocates itself annually. The Senate is expected to follow suit next year. Here are the top congressional budgets for staff salaries for the second half of 2009, not counting additional staff working for various committees:

Representative	Total Staff Payroll
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)	$3,039,564
Minority leader John Boehner (R-Ohio)	$1,998,276
Majority leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.)	$1,875,607
Minority whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.)	$1,411,075
Majority whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.)	$1,254,726
Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.)	$685,897
Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii)	$680,333
James Oberstar (D-Minn.)	$679,652
Barney Frank (D-Mass.)	$646,304
Dale Kildee (D-Mich.)	$622,595