The fact-checkers at the Arizona Republic took Rep. Kyrsten Sinema to task this morning for falsely claiming that she stopped pay raises for members of Congress.
Sinema had been bragging on social media that when Congress “wanted to give themselves a raise next year — I stopped them.” Unsurprisingly, the paper looked into her statement and rated it “One star, mostly false.”
Seeing that none of Kyrsten Sinema’s bills have ever been signed into law, falsely inflating her resume might be the only play she has left.
Fact check: Kyrsten Sinema claims she stopped a pay raise for Congress — is she right?
Arizona Republic
May 10, 2018
https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/fact-check/2018/05/10/fact-check-kyrsten-sinema-congress-pay-raise/567079002/
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THE COMMENT: “They (Congress) actually wanted to give themselves a raise next year — I stopped them. The last thing these finger-pointing politicians need is a reward for the dysfunction they’ve created in Washington, so I’ve stopped the raises and will get back to work on solving problems for everyday Arizonans.”
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BOTTOM LINE: Automatic pay raises for members of Congress, set in 1989, have been blocked since 2009 through legislation or added provisions in appropriations bills. Besides Sinema’s recent efforts to stop a congressional salary increase, similar legislation with an almost identical title and language, was introduced by Buchanan during the same session. Ultimately, the effort to block pay raises did not come from Sinema alone and the chairman and ranking member of the appropriations committee decide what is or is not included in Congress’ spending proposal.
THE FINDING: One star, mostly false.