Article I, Section 6, Clause 1 — compensation
National payment for national legislators
Current text The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States.
What it means
Senators and representatives receive compensation established by law and paid from the United States Treasury. Their pay therefore depends on federal legislation rather than separate state decisions.
Historical setting
Under the Articles, states maintained their own delegates. National compensation helps make federal legislators financially independent of state governments and makes service more possible for people without private fortunes.
What it does
The Twenty-Seventh Amendment now delays the effect of laws varying congressional compensation until an intervening House election. The original power to legislate compensation remains, but it operates with that additional accountability rule.
Debate & interpretation
Pay can reduce financial exclusion and improper dependence while creating the problem of lawmakers influencing their own compensation. The constitutional design uses public law and electoral timing rather than assuming unpaid service is necessarily more virtuous.
A common misreading
The Constitution does not require congressional service to be unpaid, and the original compensation clause is not the entire present rule.
Think it through How can public compensation make office more accessible without becoming an opportunity for self-dealing?
Follow the connection
Sources & further reading
Original Madison Center commentary. Explanations distinguish the text, historical context,
and interpretive disagreements.
