Every senator gets an allowance from the government to run their offices.
The Senators’ Official Personnel and Office Expense Account, or SOPOEA, is for official office operations, staff salaries, travel, and other expenses.
It comes directly from the US Treasury, aka our taxes. While both senators from the same state are allocated the same amount of money, not all states receive the same amount.
It’s based on a formula that takes population, distance from DC, and mail allocations into consideration.
There is a flat rate, which means every senator will receive at least $677,100, though the 2026 Senate Appropriations Committee report showed that SOPOEA funds actually ranged from $4,296,524 to $6,621,784, with an average of $4,664,423.
