Lawmakers’ portfolios shrugged off pre-election jitters, concerns about the European debt crisis and suspense surrounding the fiscal cliff. It took a minimum reported net worth of $6.67 million just to crack the exclusive 50 Richest club.
Financial disclosures also revealed a widening gap between members’ wealth and that of their constituents. The median net worth of the 112th Congress stood at $442,007 in 2012. Nineteen percent of lawmakers reported no debts at all, while 15 percent had trusts.
In contrast, the median household net worth in the United States stood at $68,828 in 2011, with 69 percent of households holding some form of debt, according to the most recent U.S. Census statistics. Median household net worth decreased by 16 percent from 2000 to 2011, those figures show.
The disclosure forms reveal details such as each lawmaker’s stock market holdings, rental properties, checking accounts, credit card balances, student loans and other assets and liabilities.
Even so, the forms provide an incomplete and, in some cases, misleading picture of the overall wealth of lawmakers.
Assets and liabilities are listed in broad valuation categories spanning millions of dollars, making it impossible to determine a lawmaker’s precise net worth unless the individual opts to voluntarily disclose the actual dollar amounts. And though they’re required to report the value of mutual funds, stock holdings, bank accounts and other assets, they don’t have to disclose the value of personal residences or federal retirement savings accounts.
Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., right, hugs Harold Schaitberger, General President of the International Association of Fire Fighters, after the Congressman spoke at the IAFF's Legislative Conference General Session at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill, March 9, 2015. The day featured addresses by members of Congress and Vice President Joe Biden.