When President Harry Truman left office in 1953, his only source of income was his $112.56 per month pension from the U.S. Army. He and his wife moved back into their old house in Independence, Missouri, where Truman refused to lobby or join any corporate boards, though there was no shortage of offers. “I could never lend myself to any transaction, however respectable,” he wrote, “that would commercialize on the prestige and dignity of the office of the presidency.”
Five years later, Congress introduced the Former Presidents Act, which established a pension, staff, insurance and secret service protection for all living former presidents, at that time just Truman and Herbert Hoover. That law has remained, with minor changes, up until modern day, where former presidents receive $207,800 per year on top of the other benefits.
Meanwhile, our ex-presidents these days seem to lack the money problems of Truman. Bill Clinton reportedly made more than $100 million in the decade after leaving office, charging upwards of $500,000 per speaking engagement. George W. Bush has been the keynote speaker at over 200 events since leaving Washington, racking up over $20 million, while Barack Obama has a standard fee of some $400,000, including a three part deal he with various Wall Street groups less than a year after his final term ended.
Needless to say, that $200K seems a pittance to modern presidents, and for U.S. Rep. Jody Hice (R-GA-10), always one to look to curb unnecessary spending, the issue was one that needed addressing.
In March Hice introduced the Presidential Allowance Modernization Act of 2019, which seeks to limit the pensions given to former presidents if they are making above a certain threshold, while making sure spouses and security needs are kept up.
The bill received bipartisan support as it sailed through the House Oversight and Reform Committee, and on Wednesday it was passed via voice vote by the full House.
“Between book deals and paid speaking engagements, our modern-day presidents earn millions of dollars in outside income following their time in office,” said Hice. “Given that our Nation’s current federal deficit is rapidly closing in on $23 trillion, it’s imperative that we phase out unnecessary and excessive spending wherever it occurs. Our former presidents ought to set the standard, and I’m thrilled that the House took an important step to reform this outdated system and ensure responsible, measured use of taxpayer money. I now look forward to continuing to work with Senator Joni Ernst (who passed companion legislation in the Senate) to get this forward-thinking legislation across the finish line.”
The Presidential Allowance Modernization Act of 2019 would:
- Set the pension for former presidents at $200,000 per year;
- Limit the allowance for expenses such as office space and leases, furniture, and supplies, as well as staff salaries to a lump monetary sum of $200,000 per year;
- Reduce the monetary allowance dollar-for-dollar if a former president earns in excess of $400,000 in earned income; (Meaning if they make over $400K per year, they receive none of that $200K taxpayer-funded pension)
- Increase the pension for the spouses of former presidents from $20,000 to $100,000 per year; and
- Maintain the funding for the security and protection of a former president or a family member.
