Santos won't run for reelection in 2024

[BumRushDaShow]

31. Uh nope. He lied again.

Pretty much every federal employee, including members of Congress, need to have at least 5 years vested in order to be eligible for benefits.

Good little article here - https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/2015/01/23/fact-check-does-one-term-congress-member-get-full-pension/15648164007/

Fact Check: Does a one-term Congress member get a full pension?
Carole Fader
Published 11:44 a.m. ET Jan. 23, 2015


Times-Union readers want to know:

A friend told me that she read on the Internet that members of Congress who only serve one term get full pay. Is that true?

FactCheck.org also recently was asked about congressional pay again and, with the 115th Congress now in session, it decided to do an update on pension and health benefits for former members. Members of Congress never receive full pay as a pension when they leave office, no matter if they serve one term or several, FactCheck.org reports.

The basic eligibility for a pension is the following, according to a June 13 report from the Congressional Research Service, the nonpartisan research arm of Congress:

"Members of Congress are eligible for a pension at the age of 62 if they have completed at least five years of service. Members are eligible for a pension at age 50 if they have completed 20 years of service, or at any age after completing 25 years of service. The amount of the pension depends on years of service and the average of the highest three years of salary. By law, the starting amount of a member's retirement annuity may not exceed 80 percent of his or her final salary."

As FactCheck.org notes, that means that members of the House of Representatives - who are up for reelection every two years - would not be able to collect pensions of any amount if they only served one term. U.S. senators, on the other hand, serve six-year terms and would be able to collect pensions after one full term. But the pensions wouldn't equal their full salaries.

(snip)

Because a Senator's term is 6 years, if they served 1 term and were out, then that Senator WOULD BE eligible for retirement benefits (as the one term would be more than 5 years). I believe like most (post-1983 EOD) regular civil service employees in the Executive Branch, Congress is under FERS as well.