Chip Roy fields proposal to block pay and power for longtime lawmakers

Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas has fielded a proposal to cut off pay and power from House and Senate lawmakers once they’ve served 12 years in their respective legislative chamber.

“A Member of Congress (including a Delegate or Resident Commissioner to the Congress) who has served 12 or more cumulative years in the House of Representatives or in the Senate, as the case may be, may not, on and after the date that the Member reaches 12 years of service in the Member’s respective House of Congress, be eligible for any covered benefit described in subsection (b),” the text states.

Under the proposal, such long-serving lawmakers would no longer be eligible for pay and would no longer be eligible to serve in House and Senate leadership posts or as the chair or ranking member of standing or select committees.

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“For too long, Washington has rewarded longevity with greater power, higher pay, and deeper entrenchment. If members of Congress want to serve beyond 12 years absent a constitutional amendment limiting them, they should do so without taxpayer-funded salaries and without monopolizing committee chairs and leadership positions,” Roy said, according to a press release.

“This bill helps ensure that public service remains exactly that: service to the people, not a lifelong career in politics,” he said, according to the release.

Roy, who has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2019, lost the Texas attorney general Republican primary runoff contest last month to Lone Star State Sen. Mayes Middleton.

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The text of Roy’s proposal indicates that the restrictions would be enacted by the legislature “as an exercise of the rulemaking power of the Senate and House of Representatives, respectively, and as such are deemed a part of the rules of each House, respectively … ” and that the restrictions would be enacted “with full recognition of the constitutional right of either House to change the rules (so far as relating to the procedure of that House) at any time, in the same manner, and to the same extent as in the case of any other rule of that House.”

“The prohibition under this section shall apply with respect to the One Hundred Twenty-First Congress and each succeeding Congress,” the measure states.

The 121st Congress will start in early 2029.

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The U.S. Constitution stipulates that “Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings,” but also states that “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.”