As a new Congress was sworn in, this might seem like a bad time to talk about raising federal lawmakers’ pay. A government funding package failed last month, throwing Washington into a frantic effort to keep the government open, in part because it included a small pay increase for members of Congress.

Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, posted falsely that the provision meant members would get a 40 percent pay increase — more than 10 times the reality. His post has 34 million views. Following his lead, President-elect Donald Trump wrote that “this is not a good time for Congress to be asking for pay increases.” Front-line members joined the chorus: Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Washington) said a pay boost, “any way you slice it,” would be “bananas.”

Actually, it would be smart.

Members of the House and Senate haven’t received any bump to their $174,000 annual salary since 2009, and that’s bad for the country. The 27th Amendment stipulates that lawmakers may not raise their own pay — just that of future Congresses. The new Congress that was seated on Jan. 3 should do so for the next.

The arguments against boosting Congress’s pay seem overwhelming. Gallup’s latest polling shows just 17 percent of Americans approve of the job the legislative branch is doing. Members already make far more than the median national income. “If members can’t get by on our already generous salaries and benefits, they should find another line of work,” said Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine).

Actually, that’s the danger. Writing the nation’s laws is not an average job. Serving in Congress is a privilege — but one that should be attractive not only to politics fanatics, the independently wealthy, go-for-broke ideologues or those open to supplementing their official salaries by leveraging their positions for personal gain.

The majority of members, especially those with postgraduate degrees in medicine or law, could make vastly more in the private sector than they do now. Many highly qualified people — particularly talented young Americans — forgo public service for the same reason.

Moreover, everyday people don’t need to maintain two residences, as most members do, including in D.C., one of the most expensive places in the country in which to live.