A salary bump for members of Congress, who are currently paid $174,000 per year, is included in the 1,547-page spending bill that was unveiled on Tuesday night.

Congress has to pass a spending bill to keep the government funded before the end of the day on Friday. The current version is a Continuing Resolution that would last until mid-March.

Congress has voted since 2009 to block lawmakers from receiving automatic cost-of-living adjustments.

The House speaker earns $223,500 annually and the Senate majority leader makes $193,400 while other lawmakers earn $174,000 currently. The average salary in the United States is $66,621, according to the latest data from the Social Security Administration. 

A provision in the negotiated spending bill would allow the automatic pay raises to return, which could yield a $6,600 raise next year for lawmakers, according to a Congressional Research Service report from September.

According to Gallup polling, Congress has a 19% approval rating among the public. 

The low approval comes after a Republican-led House that swept to power in 2023 with promises to restore normal budgeting and large spending cuts failed to do both.

The pay raise provision in the bill has been greeted with bipartisan opposition. In addition to conservative lawmakers from the House Freedom Caucus, Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, said he will vote against the bill if the pay raise provision stays inside ahead of the final vote.

“Congress should be working to raise Americans’ wages and lower their health care costs, not sneaking new member perks into must-pass legislation behind closed doors,” Golden said in a statement. “If members can’t get by on our already generous salaries and benefits, they should find another line of work. As long as these provisions are in the CR, I will vote against it.” 

House Speaker Mike Johnson has said the spending bill was the result of bipartisan negotiations. 

Just the News reached out to Johnson's office and asked if he supports the salary increases for lawmakers but did not receive a response before publication.