Filers must disclose positions they hold with non-governmental organizations, except for their membership in religious, social, fraternal or political organizations. In September 2019, Sensenbrenner announced he would not seek reelection in the 2020 election. Cohen started his legal practice in 1978 after serving as a legal adviser for the Memphis Police Department. This Ballotpedia article is in need of updates. Trone's wife independently owned stock in Alphabet, Apple, and Pepsi, among others. He is a cofounder of Penny's Coffee, a Minnesota-based coffee shop chain, a former chairman for Talenti Gelato, and the former CEO of Phillips Distilling Company. "After first signaling her opposition to these reforms, the Speaker purportedly reversed her position. Republican Greg Gianforte has represented the state of Montana on Capitol Hill since taking office in 2017. McConnell was elected Senate majority leader by Republicans in 2014. U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) delivers remarks from the House Chambers of the U.S. Capitol Building on November 17, 2022 in Washington, DC. Approximately half of McConnell's estimated wealth comes from a $5 million gift from his father-in-law in 2008. Any such honoraria must be reported on the PFD by source and amount. See which incumbents had the largest gains in net worth. Blumenauer has a law degree from Lewis and Clark Law School, and before becoming a legislator, he worked as the assistant to the president of Portland State University for seven years. She the resumed the speakership in 2019 and will hold that position until the end of the present Congress. as well as other partner offers and accept our, Alex Wong/Getty Images; Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images; Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call; Hannah McKay-Pool/Getty Images; Rebecca Zisser/Insider, Chance Yeh/Getty Images for Power 100 Lunch, Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images), Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images, Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images, Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images, Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images, Anna Moneymaker/The New York Times via AP, Pool, placed his assets in a qualified blind trust, acknowledged filing an incorrect personal financial disclosure. Perdue was also chief executive officer of Dollar General and set up its sale to investors. No one is qualifying for food stamps, but some lawmakers carry significant personal and/or business debt. Maloney's assets include a townhouse in the Upper East Side, a six-unit rental property in Virginia Beach, and a partial stake in a rental property in Jamaica. Blumenthal's only liability listed in his financial filings was a 30-year mortgage on his home that his wife took out in 2011. Pelosi reported at least $20 million in liabilities that mostly involved mortgages on properties in California and Washington, DC. She is a newcomer to Congress, joining the ranks in 2021. The Courage to Change political action committee the congresswoman launched last year to back progressive candidates challenging incumbent Democratsspent about $335,000 out of the $842,000 it raised, according to the FEC. The public employee retirement fund amount should have been in the thousands and not millions. Below, as part of Roll Call's Wealth of Congress analysis, we plotted the 115th Congress' minimum net worth on a vertical. His largest investment is an interest in Lebanon House Inc., which owns the Golden Lamb Inn, the oldest continuously operating company in Ohio. In total, the study looks at 320 Republicans, 296 Democrats and two Independents. The high net worth of American lawmakers is partially attributable to their annual salaries of $174,000, which is more than triple the average wage across all American workers of $51,960 and higher than the median earnings of even the highest paying jobs in America. Earning an annual salary of roughly $174,000 certainly contributes toward their wealth, but many of these lawmakers were rich to being with. Estimated wealth is at least $100 million in 2012 dollars, for all the people listed here. Sen. John Hoeven built his wealth by working in banking in North Dakota. The Ohio legislator was elected to the Senate eight years ago after serving in the house from 1993 to 2015. Prior to being elected to office, she made much of her wealth in the private sector. Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut. Compare the gains in net worth experienced by congressional incumbents with what happened to the net worth of the people they represent. In that case, a few very high numbers could, for instance, change the average, but they would not change the median. Rep. Ann Wagner held management posts at Hallmark Cards and Ralston Purina before she was elected to the first of her four terms as a congresswoman from Missouri. In August 2019, Isakson announced he would resign from his senate seat at the end of the year due to health problems. Scott Peters, who has represented California's 52nd District located just north of San Diego since 2013, is worth an estimated $32 million. Republican Rick Allen has represented Georgia's 12th District since taking office in 2015. Lowey is the current chair of the Committee on Appropriations. After receiving his medical degree and following his residency, Marshall returned to Kansas and established his medical practice in the town of Great Bend. Those in Congress who held assets above the median net worth of $1 million in 2012 also saw a hefty annual percentage increase. Williams' wealth is primarily split among mutual funds, a few select stocks, real property, and the ownership of several car dealerships in Texas worth more than $5 million. Because many members have been in office for longer than the eight years this study illustrates, the real change in net worth each member sees after initially taking office may be higher than the numbers in this data. Like several other lawmakers on this list, Blumenthal married into his vast fortune. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, in her second term as senator from Massachusetts, is seeking the Democratic Party's nomination for president. Changes in Net Worth of U.S. A part of the family behind the eponymous Midwestern grocery chain, Meijer reported that the bulk of his wealth was held in a "generation-skipping trust" that contained, among other assets, stock in Johnson & Johnson, Home Depot, Tesla, and Visa. Rep. Kenny Marchant of Texas is serving his eighth term in the House of Representatives. Mitchell won't seek reelection this November. He snagged his first job in D.C. in 1968, working as the chief legislative assistant to Kentucky Sen. Marlow Cook. Other notable stocks owned by Jacobs includes more than $100,000 invested in stocks of Apple, Microsoft, and Mastercard. lived paycheck to paycheck, according to Time. Today, much of Warner's fortune estimated at over $90 million is held in blind trusts. OpenSecrets notes some important limitations to the data:[5]. 2023 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Satellite Information Network, LLC. 1 spot on the list through his extensive holdings in stocks, bonds, LLCs, private-equity funds, gold trusts, and treasury notes. Outside, earned income that exceeds $200 must be reported. Other major assets include several Vanguard index funds he holds jointly with his wife, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao. Much of his wealth is from investments he made with his earnings from years as a corporate tax attorney. Republican James Inhofe began his congressional career in the House of Representatives in 1987, serving Oklahoma's 1st District. For the 49 members who went from a negative net worth to a positive net worth, the average increase was $3.4 million per member.[29]. Its content is produced independently of USA TODAY. Only lawmakers with an estimated net worth of more than $3 million are included on this list. From 2011 to 2012, the average net worth change of a freshman member of the 113th Congress in one year was: The following 15 freshman senators and representatives of the 113th Congress saw their net worth increase the most out of their incoming class of new members: From 2009 to 2012, the average net worth change of a freshman member of the 112th Congress in three years[55] was: The following 15 freshman representatives of the 112th Congress (no senators made the top 15 list) saw their net worth increase the most out of their incoming class of new members: The amount of assets held by individual members increased by a total of $316.5 million between 2004 (or later, depending on when the member joined Congress) and 2012.[56]. The Personal Gain Index is a two-part study that examines the extent to which members of the U.S. Congress have individually prospered during their tenure as public servants. After heated budget debates, threats of government shutdowns and multiple votes to raise the debt ceiling, Congress has been dealing with fiscal issues on a regular basis. Click here to contact our editorial staff, and click here to report an error. The. If we use the average net worth category for the House and . Apply for the Ballotpedia Fellows Program, Net worth of United States Senators and Representatives, Staff salaries of United States Senators and Representatives, Ballotpedia's profiles of the 535 congressional incumbents, Personal Gain Index: Household net worth (American citizen), http://www.census.gov/people/wealth/data/dtables.html, List of current members of the U.S. Congress, Information on financial disclosure forms from the Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives, Older congressional financial disclosure forms available on, Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License, http://www.opensecrets.org/pfds/methodology.php, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, National Republican Congressional Committee, Net Worth of United States Senators and Representatives, Filing requirements for congressional candidates, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, United States House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Cooperative of American Physicians IE Committee, Changes in Net Worth of U.S. Now married to another Microsoft executive, she is worth an estimated $28.4 million. In this study, we look at changes in net worth during an incumbent's time in office. Sen. Steve Daines served in a management position at Procter & Gamble, worked in his family's construction company, and was a vice president at a cloud-computing startup that was eventually bought by Oracle in 2012. How much are your senators and representatives worth? [3], The median American citizen[4] saw his or her household net worth decrease from 2004 to 2012 by an annual rate of -0.94 percent, while members of Congress experienced a median annual increase of 1.55 percent. External Relations: Moira Delaney Hannah Nelson Caroline Presnell Ocasio-Cortez said she made a payment that had reduced her student loan debt to $19,000. Brooks also worked as a criminal defense attorney for Indianapolis-based law firm of McClure, McClure and Kammen. Even though they weren't required to do so, some filers did list the value of their personal residences; when they did, we included the information in our totals and detailed listings. Buchanan's wealth primarily comes from his ownership of several car dealerships, in addition to a limited liability company that was labeled as "Aircraft Holding & Leasing" and valued at $25 million to $50 million. The Center for Responsive Politics is posted under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. All of Beyer's assets were jointly owned, in a combination of stocks, government securities, and real property. Foster sold his stake in the business before he ran for Congress. Rose, who joined Congress in 2019, reported an ownership stake in several residential buildings across the country. Her family also owns farm equipment company Heartland Tractor. Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.) was worth less than six figures in 2008. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., has supported raising the minimum wage, forgiving student loan debt and increasing taxes for the wealthy. Lowey is married to a prominent Wall Street attorney, who co-founded his own firm that specializes in securities and merger litigation. Fred Upton has been in Congress since 1987 and has served Michigan's 6th District located in the southwest corner of the state since 1993. Bennet would be elected one year later. The trust contains government securities, mutual funds, and more than $6 million in stock of Qualcomm, a semiconductor company co-founded by her grandfather, Irwin M. Jacobs. Although the 2012 freshmen only saw moderate growth after one year in office, the growth for the 112th freshmen was staggering. The congresswoman filed her next financial disclosure in September 2020. He rejoined Congress in 2021. Congressional millionaires had an average yearly percentage increase of 23.9 percent. Apply for the Ballotpedia Fellows Program, By Sarah Rosier and the Congress team To ensure consistency among data sets, home equity was withheld in a similar fashion to primary residences not being counted as assets for congressional data. Conditions for re-employment, severance payments, buyout agreements, profit-sharing plans. It displays the net worth (the difference between assets and liabilities) for the member and their immediate family, such as a spouse or dependent children. U.S. House of Representatives Press Gallery, accessed March 9. Today, Sensenbrenner's stock portfolio includes holdings in more than three dozen companies, including Pfizer, Apple, AT&T, and Verizon. Williams recently violated the STOCK Act by failing to properly file three stock transactions by his wife. In the private sector, Bennet was managing director at Anschutz Investment Co. Bennet is currently campaigning to be the Democratic nominee for President. The tables and graphs on this page show some of the highlights of the study. Ballotpedia staff took OpenSecrets predicted net worth averages for all reported members of congress and using statistical software calculated yearly averages and changes for various congressional subsets. 76. How much are your senators and representatives worth? However, what the study is missing is how much he was worth in 1982 compared to 2012. This was set by the "Ethics in Government Act of 1978." The data used to calculate changes in net worth may include changes resulting from assets gained through marriage, inheritance, changes in family estates and/or trusts, changes in family business ownership and many other variables unrelated to a member's behavior in Congress. Phillips, who joined Congress in 2019, reported at least $2 million in liabilities in the form of mortgages. Sen. Ron Johnson was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2010. Sen. Jacky Rosen, serving her first term as senator from Nevada after serving as a congresswoman, is a former computer programmer. It is no wonder, then, that when the average citizen has the means to take a peek at each members ability to handle his or her personal finance, intrigue abounds. Note: Report numbers may reflect incoming and outgoing members of congress. Before he was a senator, Risch used his income from his private attorney practice to buy large swaths of farming and ranching land in the southwestern part of the state. She has represented the most populous state in the Senate since taking office in 1992. Each year, every member of Congress is required to file a detailed report disclosing their financial holdings. Warner's wealth is divvied up among mutual funds, private-equity funds, and hedge funds. The latest batch of numbers shows that the 113th Congress had a median net worth of $1,008,767. Data on the year each House member or senator started serving as a member of Congress, district served, and party affiliation came from Congress.gov. Please email us if you would like to suggest a revision. The period studied is 2004-2012, or from the year the incumbent took office, if it was after 2004. He was the first former president to monetize his time in the office, according to The Washington Post. J ust because you're . Rep. Liz Cheney's (R-WY) net worth ballooned from an estimated $7 million when she first took office in 2017 to possibly more than $44 million in 2020, according to analysis from the Center for Responsive Politics and her most recent financial disclosure forms. Those from personal acquaintances, contributions to legal defense funds and commemorative items. Her estimated net worth has increased significantly since 2008 thanks in large part to the success of her husband, Paul Pelosi, who is a venture capitalist and property investor. One . Because of this, Ballotpedia removed Pingree when calculating the averages for this study, while continuing to list her in the chart. The only assets that Pelosi reported owning or joint-owning were her home in Napa, California, and a Wells Fargo bank account containing less than $15,000. Operations: Meghann Olshefski Mandy Morris Kelly Rindfleisch The 2012 figure will be updated when available. These estimates assume no change in net worth between 2011 and 2012. Yarmuth founded several publications, including Louisville Today, and the Louisville Eccentric Observer Weekly (LEO).