Since 1990, CQ Roll Call has collected financial disclosures from all 541 Senators, Representatives and delegates and compiled an annual list of the "richest" and "poorest" members of U.S. Congress.
Below are the top 3 "richest" members of Congress and their minimum net worth for 2014:
- Rep. Fred Upton R-Michigan: Net worth $7.3M
- Rep. Dave Camp R-Michigan: Net worth $6.59M
- Rep. John D. Dingell D-Michigan: Net worth $3.52M
Below are the top 3 "poorest" members of Congress and their net worth for 2014:
- Senator Debbie Stabenow D-Michigan: Net worth $-0.59M
- Rep. Mike Rogers R-Michigan: Net worth $-0.31M
- Rep. John Conyers D-Michigan: $-0.16M
These net worth values are indeed only estimates. CQ discussed some factors that may have caused these self-reported values to be off, specifically those net worths that garnered the Congressmen "poorest" status:
Members of Congress do not have to disclose the value of their personal residences, even if they're second homes or vacation homes. So it's a fair bet that most of these supposedly underwater Congressmen own property that isn't being taken into account here. Mortgages on these homes, though, must be disclosed, and do show up in these calculations as liabilities.
Members of Congress also have to disclose a range for how much each of their assets and liabilities are worth, rather than an exact amount. So though CQ Roll Call takes the lower estimates for all of these [self-reported assets and liabilities], true net worth [for those reporting negative] could actually be positive, or much more hugely negative.
Want more details on the methodology of CQ's ranking? Check out the video below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qho55D2U598#t=22
