Congressional Perks: Taxpayers fund Chaplain, his staff along with millions for other questionable jobs

(The Center Square) — One of the highest paid officials in the U.S. Senate last year was not a senator but a chaplain who opened each day with a prayer, part of a broader increase in spending that pushed the chamber’s budget to about $1.5 billion. 

Barry C. Black, a retired Rear Admiral and Seventh Day Adventist, made nearly $223,800 last year, according to Senate records analyzed by The Center Square. That exceeded the salaries of the Senate’s highest-ranking members, including John Thune of South Dakota, the Senate Majority Leader, and John Barrasso of Wyoming, the Senate Whip, both Republicans, whose pay is set by law at $193,400. 

Along with his big salary, taxpayers pay for him to have a communications director, who declined to do an in-person or a telephone interview, and a highly paid chief of staff. 

Black’s salary is not unusual within the Senate’s senior staff ranks, where top aides and specialized officials earn more than elected members. But his pay—and the limited public understanding of his role—show that the Senate’s internal spending has grown alongside a workforce that is largely invisible to the public. 

The Senate’s appropriations budget ballooned to $1.5 billion last year from $1 billion in 2021, according to Senate records. That’s a 50 percent jump in four years -- double the inflation for that period. 

The increase is not confined to the Senate. Consider Congress’s appropriations for legislative branch operations, which covers the operational costs of not only the House and Senate, but also the Capitol Police, Library of Congress, the Congressional Budget Office, Government Accountability Office, and the Architect of the Capitol. 

In 1997, the figure was $2.17 billion, the equivalent of $4.4 billion today. This year, the number is $7.23 billion—a 59% jump, according to Senate records.

Supporters of the increases point to rising security concerns. Two years ago, Capitol Police investigated nearly 9,500 threats and concerning statements directed at members of Congress, the second highest total on record.  

“We continue to see ever rising threats against elected officials and their staff, including recent abhorrent bomb threats against Cabinet Members and nominees,” U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer, a Nebraska Republican, said at a hearing of the Senate Rules and Administration Committee on December 11, 2024. 

But payroll records show that the growth in spending extends beyond security to many lesser-known roles. Many earn six-figure annual salaries or more. Yet publicly available descriptions of their jobs are limited.

Questionable staff positions

Two wellness resource specialists are an example of high salaries with little justification for why they're necessary.  Kirstan S. Fuller received $101,164 and Jennifer L. Pilut $100,598. Wellness manager Danielle S. Edwards made $155,598 last year. 

According to a 2024 tweet from the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing, a professional credentialing body, wellness specialists are expected to “research and develop innovative wellness programming and technology-based programs designed to improve the overall health and well-being of the U.S. Senate community.” 

A phone call to the Senate Sergeant at Arms, whose budget includes the specialists, was not returned. 

In another office, the supervisor for passport issuance, Christine Chou, made $117,398 last year, while her colleague, Helen Araya Fesseha, the lead passport issuance specialist, was paid $98,598. 

Most Senate employees earn less money but still made more than the national median salary of $62,000 to $63,000 annually last year. Framer Will Willis received $82,692 last year, while colleague Dylan Untalan earned $72,584.  

Finding job descriptions for the Senate’s specialists in passport issuance and framers is difficult, as they have no discernible online presence.  

A group of employees whose job description is online is Capitol Telephone exchange operators. 

According to Senate history, operators have evolved from working with switchboards to computers. “Capitol operators continued to field incoming calls ranging from the White House to agitated constituents,” the Senate said. “Operators helped to set up weekly teleconferences between senators’ staff in Washington and their home states.” 

Like the framers, the 24 operators earned more than the nation’s median salary last year, roughly $79,000 a year on average or $1.91 million in total. 

An email and a phone call to the Architect of the Capitol, which oversees the framers and telephone operators, were not returned. 

Church and state

Few non-elected congressional jobs have attracted more controversy than that of government-funded chaplains and prayer. In 1983, the Supreme Court ruled in Marsh v. Chambers that taxpayer subsidized chaplains did not violate the First Amendment, citing historical precedent. 

Still, critics argue the spending is wasteful. 

“Members of Congress can pray on their own time,” Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of Freedom from Religion, a nonprofit organization, said in an interview with The Center Square. “They’re not captives like prisoners or on a submarine. They have umpteen churches and synagogues to go to in D.C. It’s absurd to suggest that they can’t go to their own place of worship to pray...This is a sinecure for religion.” 

Jody M. Bogoslavski, director of communications for the Senate chaplain, said that while important, the prayer that Chaplain Black delivers before each day in the Senate is a small part of his job.  

“Most of his time is spent on ministering to 6,000 plus Senators and staff [and workers] in the Senate,” Bogoslavski wrote in an email. “Each year we have approximately 200 events—150 of those where we provide food.”  

Bogoslavski declined to do an interview and would answer only written questions. From April 2024 to March 2025, Bogoslavski was paid nearly $130,000.

While unable to provide the number of meetings and counseling the Senate Chaplain’s office provides, she noted that Chaplain Black and staff “provide services to all the workers in the Capitol, plus Senate staff, senators and their spouses."

"We offer an opportunity for both sides of the aisle to get to know one another and that is really needed right now," she wrote. 

And salaries for the Chaplain's staff have increased significantly from prior years. One of Bogoslavski's predecessors, Patricia A. Linnell, the chaplain’s coordinator of communications, made roughly $49,000 in 1998, according to Senate records. Even with inflation, which would have doubled Linnell's salary, Bogoslavski still makes nearly 32 percent more.

Similarly, Suzanne M. Chapuis, Chaplain Black’s executive assistant, received $62,958 from October 2024 to March 2025. That was nearly 149 percent more than the $25,287 that Heather Neal, assistant to Chaplain Lloyd John Ogilvie, Black's predecessor, earned from April to September 1998. 

To be sure, in 1998 the Senate Chaplain earned about $117,000, roughly equivalent to current pay levels in today’s dollars. 

Even so, the broader arc of Senate spending continues to draw complaints from taxpayer groups about priorities and transparency. 

According to Gallup, Congressional approval rating dropped to 16% in February.

For taxpayers, much of that spending—and the roles it funds—remains difficult to evaluate. 

"Taxpayers should know where their money is going and it should be an easy process," Williams said. "It always seems like it's so difficult to pry information from the Senate ... and that shouldn't be the case. It should be such a simple process, especially in 2026 when we have so much technology at our hands."