Over the last five years, Uncle Sam has paid out over $1.2 million to pay operators who man the Capitol’s senators-only elevators. The longer the elevator operator pushes the right buttons, the more money they will rake in. The longest tenured elevator operator has seen a salary increase each of the last five years. That operator has earned over $210,000 over those five years, giving them an average salary of around $42,000 a year.
In 2011, the sergeant at arms office decided that elevator operators would be among the furloughed nonessential staff. However, even after the Senate identified the taxpayer-funded operators as nonessential, no evidence exists to suggest that they plan on eliminating or reducing the funding for those positions. So if you hate pressing the buttons on elevators on your own, all you have to do is become a Senator!