[ad_1]
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., spoke with a CNN reporter on Wednesday after he heard “good news” that lawmakers may get a pay increase.
A proposed spending bill in Congress would give lawmakers their first salary increase since 2009, something that has drawn mixed reactions across the political spectrum.
Durbin was asked about the congressional salary increase by CNN host Manu Raju, who asked, “Members are giving themselves raises. Do you guys deserve a raise?”
“That’s good news to me, that’s good news,” Durbin responded. “You know, it’s been 10 years or 14 years and there’s been no cola. There is no change at all. I think it is time to do something.”
Senator Dick Durbin turned the tables on a CNN reporter when he was asked about lawmakers on the Hill who might receive a salary.
REPUBLIC LAWYERS SAVE COSTS AS MIKE JOHNSON DEFENDS IT: ‘WE HAVE TO GET THIS DONE
When asked again if he supported the salary increase, Durbin continued to express surprise at the provision. “How could I not know about the salary increase?”
Raju pressed the senator, suggesting that “People look at the work of Congress and say, ‘Why should we give them more money?'”
However, Durbin responded to the CNN reporter by asking him how he and his colleagues at the media received equal pay when their ratings dropped.
“What about the media? Think about it for a moment,” Durbin said.
“We didn’t pay with public money,” Raju replied.
“I know you aren’t,” Durbin said. “But I mean, half your audience isn’t there anymore. You still receive the same salary. what happened?”
“I mean, you are taxpayer money. I mean Do you guys deserve a salary increase?” Raju asked.
Committee Chairman Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., speaks during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, Dec. 1, Oct. 10, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Congress introduced a bill to avert a government shutdown on Friday with more than $100 billion in disaster relief.
The exchange was discussed by CNN’s board of directors as they defended their colleague Raju.
“I found it very interesting this morning that Dick Durbin didn’t know this was in the bill when Manu asked him about it this morning. And he argued that that was welcome information for him. Because it’s been more than a decade,” said CNN congressional correspondent Lauren Fox.
“And he’s one of those normal people when it comes to his bank account,” added CNN host Dana Bash.
According to a recent Gallup survey, the news media is “the least trusted of the 10 U.S. civic and political institutions,” with the U.S. Congress being the most trusted. Just slightly behind at 34%.
Liberal news networks have taken a hit since Trump won the election.
MSNBC averaged 807,000 daily viewers and CNN 488,000. In prime time, MSNBC averaged 1.7 million viewers from 8:00-11:00 PM ET, and CNN settled on just 700,000.
In early December Despite the chaotic news cycle But CNN’s chill audience is smaller than TNT, Food Network, Freeform, Discovery, INSP, Hallmark Mystery, TLC, TBS, History, HGTV, USA, MSNBC, Paramount, Hallmark Channel, ESPN and Fox News.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Fox News’ Brian Flood contributed to this report.
[ad_2]
Source link
