Spending Bill Includes Judicial Pay Increase

By Seth Stern | February 24, 2009 1:57 PM | | Comments (0)

Federal judges would receive a 2.8 percent cost-of-living pay increase under the fiscal 2009 spending bill introduced Monday.

The provision providing for the pay increase is buried within the 171-page Financial Services portion of the bill. Judges would receive the same cost of living allowance as members of Congress.

Many federal judges were outraged last December when their cost-of-living increase got stripped from the auto bailout. One senior District Court judge in Connecticut said it helped spur his decision to retire.

At the time, Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., said she would oppose the bailout if it included a COLA, noting "we are not hurting" for people who would like an appointment to the federal bench.

But McCaskill sounded a different note Tuesday. "I don't know if it's fair to pick on judges," said McCaskill, who heard from judges back home in Missouri about the issue in the months since she spoke out.

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