Politics | fiscal cliff Congress Votes Down Pay Hike for Itself Obama's executive order draws fire By Kevin Spak Posted Jan 2, 2013 8:57 AM CST Copied The lights of the U.S. Capitol remain lit into the night as the House, at left, continues to work on the "fiscal cliff" legislation proposed by the Senate, in Washington, on Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) It seems lawmakers on both sides of the aisle can agree on one thing: They don't deserve a raise. The Senate's fiscal cliff bill contains a single sentence provision that will stop Congress from getting a scheduled cost-of-living salary bump, Roll Call reports. President Obama had issued an executive order raising pay for all federal employees, including a $900-a-year bump for Congress, but lawmakers in both houses had pledged to vote it down, the Hill reports, with some wanting to prevent raises for the rest of Washington as well. "At a time when our country is facing record debt and trillion dollar deficits, the last thing Washington should do is reward itself with a pay increase," Rob Portman said in a New Year's Eve statement. Michele Bachmann took it a step further and drafted a bill preventing congressional raises in 2014. Read These Next It started with failure to say 'thank you,' ended with murder. Freak accident kills a woman as she cleans her car. It landed on the 4th try. There wasn't enough fuel for a 5th. President Trump's push for a Nobel comes to a head on Friday. Report an error