Ministers are "powerless" to stop MPs receiving a pay rise of £10,000 a senior politician warned on Sunday.
The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority is likely to recommend the wage increase this week despite the fact further government cuts are still to come.
Francis Maude, a cabinet office minister, told Murnaghan on Sky News: "MPs’ pay is a matter actually not even for Parliament these days, it’s a matter for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority that was set up in the wake of the expenses scandal."
Maude also explained stated there were "definitely more" government cuts to come on top of the £5 billion in "efficiency savings" set out for the first year of the next parliament.
The Tory MP said the government had already saved £10 billion over the last year from "unglamorous" areas like job cuts and renegotiating services but suggested there was still plenty of room to root out unnecessary spending across Whitehall.
He said: "There's more to come. Frankly, even if it was the most efficient organisation in the world there would be more to come."
The pay rise at a time of austerity is expected to cause outrage amongst the general public.
Some MPs argue stricter regulations in the wake of the expenses scandal in 2009 mean the current wage of £66,000 is no longer enough.
A survey of MPs in January found on average they believed they should be paid £86,000.
Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg have spoken out against the pay rise and David Cameron is under pressure to do the same.
Upon becoming prime minister, Cameron froze ministerial pay while MPs have only seen a one per cent rise.
Any increase would come into affect after the 2015 general election.