Isabella Carter
The last amendment to the US Constitution, the 27th Amendment or the Congressional Compensation Act of 1789, states that any law that increases or decreases the salary of members of Congress can only take effect after the next election of the House of Representatives. It was proposed in 1789 and ratified in 1992, making it the most recently adopted amendment.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Name | Twenty-seventh Amendment (Amendment XXVII) or Congressional Compensation Act of 1789 |
| Purpose | To prevent members of Congress from increasing or decreasing their salaries without waiting for the results of the next election of the House of Representatives |
| Legal challenges | In Boehner v. Anderson, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that Congressional cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) did not violate the amendment. In Schaffer v. Clinton, the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit ruled that receiving COLA does not grant members of Congress standing in federal court to challenge it. |
| Bipartisan support | Limited |
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What You'll Learn
- The Twenty-seventh Amendment is the last amendment to the US Constitution
- It is also known as the Congressional Compensation Act of 1789
- It was proposed in 1789 but ratified in 1992
- It states that Congress members' salaries cannot change until after the next election
- The amendment was ratified after a student's paper brought it to light in 1982
The Twenty-seventh Amendment is the last amendment to the US Constitution
The Twenty-seventh Amendment, also known as the Congressional Compensation Act of 1789, states that any law that increases or decreases the salary of members of Congress can only take effect after the next election of the House of Representatives. This amendment ensures that members of Congress cannot directly influence their own salaries and prevents them from passing laws that may be in their own financial interest.
The amendment was certified and added to the Constitution in 1992, more than 200 years after it was first proposed. This long delay sparked some controversy, with Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia criticising the process as a deviation from "historic tradition". Despite this, the amendment stands as a significant addition to the Constitution, providing a check on congressional power and maintaining the integrity of the legislative process.
The Twenty-seventh Amendment has been invoked in legal challenges related to congressional cost-of-living adjustments (COLA). In the case of Boehner v. Anderson, the United States Court of Appeals upheld the first COLA, ruling that it did not violate the amendment as it took effect after the subsequent election. However, in Schaffer v. Clinton, the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit disagreed with Boehner, ruling that COLAs do not grant members of Congress standing in federal court to challenge them.
The Twenty-seventh Amendment continues to shape the relationship between lawmakers and their constituents, ensuring that any changes to congressional salaries are subject to democratic elections and accountability.
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It is also known as the Congressional Compensation Act of 1789
The Twenty-seventh Amendment (Amendment XXVII) to the United States Constitution, also known as the Congressional Compensation Act of 1789, was proposed by the First Congress on September 25, 1789, along with 11 other amendments. It states that any law that increases or decreases the salary of members of Congress may only take effect after the next election of the House of Representatives has occurred. The purpose of this amendment is to reduce corruption in the legislative branch by allowing the public to remove members of Congress from office before their salaries increase.
The Congressional Compensation Act of 1789 was initially ratified by seven states through 1792, including Kentucky. However, it was then largely forgotten, and it was not ratified by another state for eighty years. In 1873, Ohio ratified the amendment to protest an unpopular Congressional pay raise, and Wyoming followed suit in 1978.
In 1982, the amendment was revived by Gregory Watson, a 19-year-old undergraduate student at the University of Texas at Austin. Watson wrote a paper for a government class in which he discussed the amendment, sparking a nationwide movement to ratify it. Watson used $6,000 of his own money to sponsor his campaign and was aware of ratification by only six states when he began.
The Twenty-seventh Amendment was finally ratified on May 7, 1992, becoming the most recently adopted amendment to the Constitution. It is worth noting that it was one of the first proposed amendments, demonstrating the long and often challenging path to constitutional reform.
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It was proposed in 1789 but ratified in 1992
The Twenty-seventh Amendment (Amendment XXVII), also known as the Congressional Compensation Act of 1789, was proposed in 1789 but ratified in 1992. It states that any law that increases or decreases the salary of members of Congress may take effect only after the next election of the House of Representatives has occurred.
The First Congress of the United States proposed 12 amendments to the Constitution on September 25, 1789. Ten of these were ratified on December 15, 1791, and became the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the Constitution. However, the first two amendments, including the Twenty-seventh Amendment, were not ratified by enough states to come into force at that time.
The proposed congressional pay amendment was largely forgotten until 1982, when Gregory Watson, a 19-year-old student at the University of Texas at Austin, wrote a paper for a government class in which he claimed that the amendment should be ratified. Watson used $6,000 of his own money to sponsor a nationwide effort to get the amendment ratified. When Watson began his campaign, he was aware of ratification by only six states and believed that Virginia's approval in 1791 was the last action. However, he later discovered that Ohio and Wyoming had also approved the amendment in 1873 and 1978, respectively, as a means of protesting congressional pay raises.
In 1992, 203 years after it was first proposed, the Twenty-seventh Amendment was finally ratified as the last of the 27 amendments to the United States Constitution. This amendment addresses the issue of congressional compensation, ensuring that any changes to the salary of members of Congress do not take effect until after the next election.
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It states that Congress members' salaries cannot change until after the next election
The Twenty-seventh Amendment (Amendment XXVII), also known as the Congressional Compensation Act of 1789, is the most recent amendment to the United States Constitution. It states that any law that increases or decreases the salary of members of Congress may only take effect after the next election of the House of Representatives has occurred.
The amendment was first proposed in 1789, along with 11 other amendments (Articles I-XII). The last ten Articles were ratified in 1791 to become the Bill of Rights, but the first two Articles, including the Twenty-seventh Amendment, were not ratified by enough states at that time. The proposed amendment was largely forgotten until 1982, when Gregory Watson, a 19-year-old student at the University of Texas at Austin, wrote a paper for a government class in which he claimed that the amendment had actually been ratified by enough states over time to become valid.
In his research, Watson discovered that Ohio had approved the amendment in 1873 as a means of protesting against the Salary Grab Act, and that Wyoming had done the same in 1978 to protest a 1977 congressional pay raise. Despite some controversy over the validity of these ratifications, the Twenty-seventh Amendment was eventually certified as valid in 1992, over 200 years after it was first proposed.
The amendment has been upheld by the courts in subsequent challenges. For example, in Boehner v. Anderson, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that a Congressional cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) was in accord with the amendment because it took effect after the election. However, the Supreme Court has not ruled on the constitutionality of COLAs in general, as it declined to hear the Boehner case.
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The amendment was ratified after a student's paper brought it to light in 1982
The Twenty-seventh Amendment (Amendment XXVII), also known as the Congressional Compensation Act of 1789, is the most recent addition to the United States Constitution. It stipulates that any law that increases or decreases the salary of members of Congress can only take effect after the next election of the House of Representatives.
The Twenty-seventh Amendment was first proposed in 1789, along with 11 other amendments, but it was largely forgotten until 1982. That year, Gregory Watson, a 19-year-old student at the University of Texas at Austin, wrote a paper for a government class in which he discussed the amendment. Watson's paper brought the forgotten amendment back into the spotlight and sparked a nationwide campaign for its ratification.
When Watson began his campaign, he was aware of ratification by only six states and believed that Virginia's approval in 1791 was the last action taken by any state. However, he soon discovered that Ohio and Wyoming had also approved the amendment in 1873 and 1978, respectively, as a means of protesting congressional pay raises. Watson used $6,000 of his own money to sponsor his nationwide effort, and his campaign ultimately led to the amendment's ratification.
The Twenty-seventh Amendment was finally ratified in 1992, 203 years after it was first proposed. The long gap between the proposal and ratification of this amendment led to some debate about its validity. Some argued that it had deviated from the "historic tradition" by not waiting for Congress to consider the ratification's validity. However, the amendment was eventually certified, and it now stands as a part of the United States Constitution.
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Frequently asked questions
The last amendment to the US Constitution, the 27th Amendment or the Congressional Compensation Act of 1789, states that any law that increases or decreases the salary of members of Congress may take effect only after the next election of the House of Representatives has occurred.
The 27th Amendment was intended to prevent members of Congress from increasing or decreasing their salaries at will. It ensures that any changes to their compensation will only take effect after the next election, allowing voters to hold them accountable.
The 27th Amendment was first proposed in 1789, but it was not ratified until 1992, more than 200 years later. It was largely forgotten until 1982 when Gregory Watson, a 19-year-old student, wrote a paper about it for a government class.
