Senate's Elevator Operators Cost $1.2 Million

Exactly how lazy is the United States Senate? This lazy: they apparently require elevator operators to push the buttons in elevators. Even after Senate said the jobs in the senators-only elevators were nonessential in 2011, the jobs still exist. Over the last five years the cost of those jobs has reached $1.2 million. The longest serving operator has seen a salary increase every year of those five years, earning over $210,000.

The defense offered by the Senate sergeant at arms office for the necessity of those pushing buttons listed nine additional roles and responsibilities of the operators: providing a clear and safe path for Senators, showing confused tourists which direction they should go, and working in the galleries while the Senate was not in session. They are also certified in first aid and CPR.