6 Astounding Facts About Our Super-Rich Congress

Congress keeps getting richer while the rest of us get poorer.

By Kali Holloway
Despite a performance rating that’s nearly the lowest it’s ever been, members of Congress are richer than ever. In fact, a Center for Responsive Politics study finds that, on average, one member of Congress has the cumulative worth of 18 American households. Which is an astounding amount of wealth for a body that ended last year as one of the least productive Congresses in American history. Here’s a snapshot of what else the study found:
1) The rest of us got poorer while Congress grew richer
While the Great Recession took its toll on most Americans, members of Congress saw their wallets grow fatter. Since 2007, the median net worth of Americans has dropped by almost one third (28%). Meanwhile, members of Congress’ median worths rose a staggering 43%.
2) Congress is mostly made of millionaires
The rich (and very rich) are right in their element in Congress. Millionaires made up more than 50% of Congress in 2013, with nearly 271 of the 533 members claiming personal fortunes of at least seven digits. The median net worth of members was $1,029,505 in 2013, up 2.5 percent over the year prior. Contrast that with the median net worth of your average American household, which sits at a comparatively paltry $56,355.
3) The richest members of Congress are hundred-millionares
The top five members of Congress are worth more than the GDP of entire countries. At $200.5 million, Republican Dave Trott’s personal wealth is greater than the GDP of both Peru and Iraq ($200,269 and $195,517, respectively). Democrat Jared Polis is worth $213.2 million, more than the GDP of Algeria and ($208,764). Democrat John K. Delaney is worth $222.4, greater than the GDP of the Czech Republic ($208,796). Another Democrat, Mark Warner, is worth $254.2 million, which beats out the GDP of Greece ($241,721). While Republican Darryl Issa, the richest man in Congress, is worth an incredible $448.4 million, which makes him worth more than the GDPs of Bolivia, Croatia, Sri Lanka and Hong Kong put together ($30,601; $57,869; $67,203; and $274,027, respectively). And that’s still $15.6 million lessthan he was valued at last year.
4) Altogether, the members of Congress are worth billions
In 2013, the sum of the median worth of the members of Congress was about $4.3 billion. That’s roughly equivalent to the net worth of 76,000 American households. And that’s not including the holdings of Republicans Steve Knight, who for some reason hasn’t filed a financial disclosure statement, and Michael Grimm, who resigned in December after pleading guilty to felony tax evasion charges in a federal court.
5) Nancy Pelosi is among the very rich
The former Speaker of the House and current House Minority Leader grew her fortune hugely between 2012 and 2013, increasing it from $87.9 million to $100.8 million.
6) Surprise! Most didn’t get there by pulling themselves up by their proverbial bootstraps
Most of the members of Congress are rich because they arrived there that way. In fact, of this year’s freshman crop, half were already millionaires when they took office.
Let’s all agree to remember these numbers as Congress slashes and burns programs to help the poor and middle class while lecturing us all about “entitlement programs.”
To marvel at the maddening findings of the study in their entirety for yourself, be sure to click here.