Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., confronted a CNN reporter Wednesday after learning the “good news” that lawmakers could receive a pay raise.
The spending bill proposed in Congress will give lawmakers their first pay raise since 2009, something that has received mixed reactions across the political spectrum.
Durbin was asked about congressional pay raises by CNN anchor Manu Raju, who asked, “Members are giving themselves a pay raise. Do they deserve a pay raise?”
“Well, that's news to me. That's good news,” Durbin responded. “Do you know that 10 or 14 years have passed without a queue, without any changes? I think it's time for something to be done.”
Sen. Dick Durbin turned the tables on a CNN reporter when asked about the possibility of lawmakers on the Hill receiving a raise.
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When asked again if he supports the increase, Durbin continued to express surprise at the provision: “How could I not know about a pay increase?”
Raju pressed the senator, suggesting that “people look at Congress' performance and say, 'Why should we give them more money?'”
However, Durbin responded to the CNN reporter, asking how he and his colleagues in the media get paid the same when their ratings go down.
“What about the media? Think about it for a second,” Durbin said.
“We are not paid with public money,” Raju responded.
“I know you're not,” Durbin said. “But I mean, half your listeners aren't there anymore. You're still getting the same paycheck. What's going on?”
“Well, I mean, you guys are taxpayers' money, I mean, do you deserve a raise?” -Raju asked.
Committee Chairman Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., speaks during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
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The exchange was discussed by a CNN panel where they defended their colleague Raju.
“I thought it was very interesting this morning. Dick Durbin didn't know this was in the bill when Manu asked him about it this morning, and he argued that it was nice information for him because it had been a decade,” CNN correspondent told of Congress Lauren Fox.
“And he's one of those normal people when it comes to his bank account,” CNN anchor Dana Bash added.
According to a recent Gallup poll, the media is the “least trusted group among 10 U.S. civic and political institutions,” trailing slightly behind the U.S. Congress at 34%.
In fact, liberal news networks have taken a hit since Trump won the election.
MSNBC averaged 807,000 total viewers for the day and CNN managed 488,000. During prime time, MSNBC averaged 1.7 million viewers between 8 and 11 pm ET, and CNN settled for just 700,000.
In early December, despite a busy news cycle, CNN's dismal audience was smaller than that of TNT, Food Network, Freeform, Discovery, INSP, Hallmark Mystery, TLC, TBS, History, HGTV, USA, MSNBC, Paramount, Hallmark Channel, ESPN and Fox. News.
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Fox News' Brian Flood contributed to this report.
