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 Travelers will likely cheer at this new advice from airports. Iran just hit one of the Middle East's largest oil refineries. Special forces reportedly rescue US crew member from Iran. Iran says it shot down a US jet and is hunting for the pilot. Report an error