Federal Judges Allowed To Get Their Pay Raises

WASHINGTON — The Senate passed legislation awarding federal judges their annual cost-of-living pay raise immediately rather than keeping their pay frozen along with that of lawmakers.

American lawmakers last month voted to deny themselves their annual cost- of-living pay raise — though only through February 15 — keeping a promise made by Democrats in the campaign to freeze Congress's pay until raising the $5.15-an-hour minimum wage .

That move also had the effect of freezing the pay of federal judges, slated to receive a 1.7% hike on January 1. The Senate bill, which passed yesterday by unanimous voice vote, lifts the COLA freeze for judges.

For Chief Justice Roberts, who currently makes $212,100 a year, the bill would make up for about $400 in lost pay — the total of his scheduled raise between January 1 and February 15. He's slated to start receiving the rest of his approximately $3,600 pay hike on February 16. The associate justices currently make $203,000 a year, while district judges make $165,200, the same amount as members of Congress.

The issue is separate from Justice Roberts's crusade for higher pay for federal judges, who are rapidly falling behind contemporaries such as law school deans and senior professors.