Joe Rogan Experience #2548 - Brian Simpson · Aired Sep 1, 2026
Claim summary · not a verbatim quotation
US senators vote to increase their own salaries without controversy or filibusters.
The finding
What the evidence shows
Congress does not actually vote to raise its own pay in most years. A 1989 law made the raise automatic each year unless lawmakers vote to block it, so the normal pattern since 2009 has been Congress voting against a raise, not for one. When pay increases have happened or been proposed, they have drawn real public backlash and press criticism, so calling the process free of controversy overstates how smoothly it goes.
Read the supporting source · www.ntu.org ↗Quick answer & review status
Quick answer
Is it true that US senators vote to increase their own salaries without controversy or filibusters?
Partly. The claim stretches what the evidence shows. Congress does not actually vote to raise its own pay in most years. A 1989 law made the raise automatic each year unless lawmakers vote to block it, so the normal pattern since 2009 has been Congress voting against a raise, not for one. Brian Simpson said it (matched by voice) on Joe Rogan Experience #2548 - Brian Simpson, aired Sep 1, 2026, at 51:53. The supporting source is ntu.org, linked below.
The context belongs here.
No separately verified on-air correction is recorded for this check. That is not a claim that nobody corrected it.
- Attribution
- Not independently confirmed in this record
- Editorial context review
- Not recorded; generated finding
- Coverage
- One selected claim from the episode
Revisions to this check
No dated revision is recorded here. Older checks may predate this log.
Challenge this finding or add context →Keep the evidence coming.
Follow new checks in your RSS reader, or catch up with the weekly briefing on the site.
Email signup is currently unavailable.
Prefer to catch up here? Read the weekly briefing.