We’re used to seeing big price tags on government spending, but how much could congressional chaplains really cost? Actually, a lot.

“According to Andrew Seidel of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, who did the math to determine what taxpayers are being charged for prayers in Washington, the total annual bill comes to more than $800,000.

Both the U.S. House and Senate employ a chaplain whose singular duty is to administer prayer. The budget for the House Chaplain’s office is $345,000, while the Senate Chaplain’s office receives $436,886.

Seidel reports that both the House and Senate chaplains earn executive level salaries which are equal to those of high-ranking government officials, such as “general counsels of the Departments of the Army, Navy, and Air Force; the chief financial officers of NASA and the EPA; the Chief Information Officers of almost every major federal department and agency; and the Army’s Director of Civil Defense.”

The two chaplains earn three-figure salaries for presiding over opening prayers in the house and senate, which only convene about 135 days out of the year.”