United States Constitution – Article I sec 6
(clause 1 – AKA the Speech or Debate Clause)
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. They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.
- The Members of Congress are compensated for their service. Note: compensation does not specifically mean salary, it can also include things like health care and official expenses.
- The manor of compensation must be defined (and therefore limited) by law.
- The money for their pay comes from the Treasury, not their respective State.
- Members of Congress enjoy a degree of immunity from arrest while attending a session of Congress. This is not the same as Governmental Tort Immunity or Sovereign immunity. This is a recognition that arresting a Member of Congress while Congress is in session, interfering with the Member’s ability to do the business of Congress, could have national consequences that far exceed the value of immediately arresting someone for a misdemeanor offense. It also prevents the President from arresting Members of Congress in order to manipulate a particular vote. When contemplating the meaning of “during their Attendance” and “going to and returning from the same”, consider the state of travel and communication at the time.
- The ability to speak in an uninhibited manor is necessary to political debate. As such, Members of Congress cannot have their words or intentions questioned outside of chambers. Disagreement is to be expected, but threats, intimidation, and defamation are forbidden.
(Clause 2 – AKA: Ineligibility Clause, Incompatibility Clause, or Sinecure Clause.)
No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been encreased during such time; and no Person holding any Office under the United States, shall be a Member of either House during his Continuance in Office.
- No Member of Congress can be appointed to a federal Office for which:
- the office was created during the Member’s term of office, or
- the Office existed and the compensation for it was increased during the Member’s term of office’
- No person holding a federal Office can keep that Office and still be admitted as a Member of Congress. I presume that this goes back to Article I sec 5, where each House is the Judge of Qualifications of its own Members .
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