There’s been strong opposition to additional government spending but that’s lost on House Republicans, who are attempting to give themselves pay raises of at least $8,000, according to a report from Roll Call on Thursday.

It’s anyone’s guess why they think they deserve such a raise. Maybe it’s expensive to persecute LGBTQ+ people, teachers, women, and immigrants, or spend the day tweeting. Who knows?

At any rate, spending plans approved by the GOP-controlled House Appropriations Committee in June include lawmakers giving themselves a 4.6 percent increase, Roll Call reports, citing the Congressional Research Service.

But before Republicans can fatten their wallets, the draft legislation must pass the regular legislative process before it can be enacted. And if this comes to pass, it will be the first time in nearly 15 years that members of Congress — whose average salaries are capped at roughly $174,000 — would be given a cost-of-living pay increase, Insider reports.

Mark Amodei, of Nevada, who serves as the House Legislative Branch Appropriations Chair, admitted to Roll Call that there are “a lot of strong feelings on both sides.”

“The policy supports, hey, once every twelve years, you can have a cost-of-living increase,” Amodei said. “That’s not exactly greedy. But the politics is — you know how that will go.”

If Republicans receive a pay raise, I doubt they will use it for anything that might benefit everyday Americans. They have never, ever been interested in helping the middle class or the poor.

Amodei said negotiations with the Senate about the legislation will likely go on until the end of the year. He noted that some members are concerned about the salary increase impacting their reelection campaigns.

As you might expect, Republicans are willing to take far more than they are willing to give. Roll Call’s report comes after GOP leaders negotiated a debt-ceiling agreement with President Joe Biden. The agreement curtails federal programs for low-income people, imposing new worker requirements for them to get help.

This will impact programs like the Supplement Nutrition Assistance Program, the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, and Medicaid assistance for adults without dependents. And Republicans have also said they want even deeper cuts to federal spending, threatening a government shutdown, Insider reports.

Democrats are outraged at the idea of a pay hike, and Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.) told Roll Call that House Republicans are “trying to give themselves a raise while working families struggle to make ends meet.”

Naturally, Republicans don’t care about this because they aren’t the ones struggling, and Craig added “That’s not what our constituents want — and certainly not what members of Congress need.”

And Colin Seeberger, a senior communications adviser at the Center for American Progress Action tweeted that Democrats in Congress must “raise hell over this.”

“This is outrageous,” Seeberger posted. “House Republicans are moving to give themselves a raise while taking an ax to education, health, and other essential programs that help grow the economy by growing the middle class.”

This is outrageous. House Republicans are moving to give themselves a raise while taking an ax to education, health, and other essential programs that help grow the economy by growing the middle class.

Democrats should raise hell over this.https://t.co/IE8ilS8JRs

— Colin Seeberger (@CMSeeberger) July 13, 2023

Of course, neither Democrats nor Republicans mention the poor, yet they are the ones hit hardest by this. People in either party willing to stand up for the poor are few and far between.

But in order for Republicans to begin catering to the middle class and the poor instead of the wealthy, we need to start voting more of them out of office. Perhaps then they will start paying attention.

Because if there’s anything the GOP needs, it’s a wake-up call.