Sparks Commentary: The Constitution keeps our elected officials on a short leash

"Before he [the president] enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the following oath or affirmation: I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States."

- Article 2, Section 1, Paragraph 7 of the Constitution

Politicians: The problem of every society ...

Virtually every nation in the world resents politicians, I think, even if they don't have the freedom to say so openly. The ones who can, do so often, as a group; and they are filled with resentment of incompetence and corrupt leadership. They tend to care deeply about who can hold political office, about the laws that they are required to follow, and even about when the people can vote on the next batch of them in elections. They watch their legislatures carefully, and are suspicious of all attempts to keep something secret from the public. They pay close attention to how many tax dollars go to supporting the bureaucracy, and monitor the public records of these things that the Constitution requires. Americans may pay especially close attention to how much money goes to supporting the only federal institution that can determine its own salary - Congress. These issues are often touchy ones for Americans, and can bring more than one sharp word from many a suspicious American. Thus, some comments might be appropriate here about what the Constitution says on these subjects. There are a number of solutions therein for these kinds of problems.

Constitution of the United States

Qualifications for Senators and Representatives from age, state residency, and U. S. citizenship

As far as qualifications for office went, the Constitution started by talking about who can vote in elections for the House of Representatives. Specifically, it said that for this House, "the elector in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State Legislature." (Source: Article 1, Section 2, Paragraph 1) For the Senate, a later amendment similarly said that "the electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State Legislatures." (Source: Seventeenth Amendment, Section 1) It said that "No person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the age of twenty five years, and been seven years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that state in which he shall be chosen." (Source: Article 1, Section 2, Paragraph 2) It also said that "No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the age of thirty years, and been nine years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen." (Source: Article 1, Section 3, Paragraph 3) One other clause might be worthy of note here, which said that "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 increased 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." (Source: Article 1, Section 6, Paragraph 2) Members of Congress are thus prohibited from holding "double offices." Thus the Constitution set some standards about who could serve their country in the Congress.

Capitol Dome

Qualifications for the President and Vice President from age, residency, and U. S. birth citizenship

As far as the presidency and vice presidency went, the Constitution said that "No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty five years, and been fourteen years a resident within the United States." (Source: Article 2, Section 1, Paragraph 4) A later amendment added that "no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States." (Source: Twelfth Amendment, Section 2) Thus, all eligibility requirements for the presidency also apply to the vice presidency. Another later amendment later added that "No person shall be elected to the office of President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once." (Source: Twenty-Second Amendment, Section 1)

The White House

Are two-term former Presidents ineligible to be chosen as Vice President? (Scholars disagree about this)

The presidency is actually the only office in the land to which such a term limit applies directly, since Senators and Representatives actually don't have any term limits of this kind. But people debate whether this term limit would also apply indirectly to the vice presidency; since the Vice President is the first in line to succeed the president if he (or she) dies. Some would argue, for example, that a number of former presidents who are now ineligible to be elected again as President, would be just as ineligible to be elected now as Vice President of the United States. This would interfere with their ability to legally succeed the President, they argue, if he (or she) died - a succession that Vice Presidents would typically be expected to do under these circumstances. But others see some ambiguity in these requirements here, because this amendment only says that no person shall be "elected" President more than twice, and does not explicitly say that they cannot become President in some other way besides election (such as succeeding another president who has just died). The debate on this subject continues today, and scholars disagree about this particular aspect of vice presidential eligibility requirements. But virtually no one disputes that the age, natural born citizenship, and length-of-residency requirements apply just as much to the vice presidency as they do to the presidency, because "no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States." (Source: Twelfth Amendment, Section 2), in the words of the clause quoted earlier. Either way, the Constitution clearly set some standards in the matter of who could become President or Vice President.

The White House

Elected officials must take the oath of office to support the Constitution

One of the most important qualifications for politicians in this country comes after they're elected, which is the oath of office that they must take before they can assume their responsibilities. The Constitution says that "The senators and representatives before-mentioned, and the members of the several state legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers, both of the United States and of the several states, shall be bound by oath or affirmation, to support this constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States." (Source: Article 6, Section 3) The Constitution does not specify the text of any of these oaths, except for the oath of the president; which is as follows: "Before he [the president] enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the following oath or affirmation: I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." (Source: Article 2, Section 1, Paragraph 7) Thus the Constitution made itself supreme over every individual politician who might hold office under it, and protected us against many abuses in this process.

FDR takes presidential oath of office for his first term, 1933

Those who commit treason after taking the oath are ineligible to hold further office

A later amendment also added that "No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or Elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State Legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability." (Source: Fourteenth Amendment, Section 3) When this amendment was first passed in 1868 (after the Civil War), this section's immediate purpose was to bar former Confederates from holding office; at least for a time. Congress did indeed, "by a two-thirds vote of each House, remove such disability" for many former Confederates later on; but not for all of them. Some, like the former Confederate president Jefferson Davis, continued to be barred for life; and I know of at least one case where someone besides a former Confederate was thus barred. In 1919 and 1920, for example, Socialist Victor L. Berger, who was convicted of violating the Espionage Act for publishing his anti-militarist views during World War One, was prevented from taking his seat in the House of Representatives under this section. I should note, however, that this verdict was later overturned by the Supreme Court; so Mr. Berger was thus elected to three successive terms after this in the 1920's. Lest this be construed as questioning the application of this section to others besides former Confederates, though, I should note that this verdict was not overturned due to perceived "improprieties" in barring others besides former Confederates for treason under this clause. Rather, it was overturned because of the perceived "improper actions" of one of the judges in this case - namely, Justice Kenesaw Mountain Landis. Thus, this section is still in force against people who commit treason even today, and is not just a "historical" clause about a group of offenders that have long since died.

Victor L. Berger, a man temporarily barred from holding office under this section

Congress can regulate "times, places, and manner" of holding elections (in at least some cases)

As far as elections went, the Constitution says that "The terms of the President and the Vice-President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3rd day of January, of the years in which such terms would have ended if this article had not been ratified; and the terms of their successors shall then begin." (Source: Twentieth Amendment, Section 1) The Constitution also said that "Each House shall be the judge of the elections, returns and qualifications of its own members" (Source: Article 1, Section 5, Paragraph 1); and that "The times, places and manner of holding elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by law make or alter such regulations, except as to the places of choosing Senators." (Source: Article 1, Section 4, Paragraph 1) As far as the electoral college went, the Constitution said that "The Congress may determine the time of choosing the electors, and the day on which they shall give their votes; which day shall be the same throughout the United States." (Source: Article 2, Section 1, Paragraph 3) The issue of how long these people are to serve is a complicated issue that I cover elsewhere, in a post about the length of their terms. Suffice it to say for our purposes here that the Congress can decide the timing of elections, and some other things about these elections; even if they can't decide how long their own terms are to be.

Great Seal of the United States

Congress can only do "secret votes" if more than 80% of a particular house votes for it

With regards to secrecy in Congress, the Constitution says that "Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such parts as may in their judgement require secrecy; and the yeas and nays of the members of either House on any question shall, at the desire of one-fifth of those present, be entered on the journal." (Source: Article 1, Section 5, Paragraph 3) Thus some amount of secrecy is allowed for national security reasons, for the times when Congress has to be privy to military secrets. Another paragraph added that "No money shall be drawn from the treasury but in consequence of appropriations made by law; and a regular statement and account of the receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be published from time to time." (Source: Article 1, Section 9, Paragraph 7) Thus the Constitution laid down some rules about how public money can be spent in this country, and prevented it from keeping such matters secret. Since members of the government are always paid with public money, this is relevant to how much money that these various elected officials are to be paid.

How much public money can be used to pay Senators, Representatives, and Presidents?

As far as how much money our elected officials can make (another thorny issue), the Constitution says 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." (Source: Article 1, Section 6, Paragraph 1) The Congress is thus the only part of the federal government that can determine its own pay. However, a later amendment added that "No law, varying the compensation for services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened." (Source: Twenty-Seventh Amendment) Thus, any changes to Congressional pay can't take effect until after the next Congressional elections. As far as presidential compensation went, the Constitution said that "The President shall, at stated times, receive for his services, a compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that period any other emolument from the United States, or any of them." (Source: Article 2, Section 1, Paragraph 6) Thus the Congress may not influence the president by either increasing or diminishing their salary, which is a major check on the legislative branch.

Capitol Dome at night

How much public money can be used to pay federal judges?

And as far as judges went, the Constitution said that "The judges, both of the supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behaviour, and shall, at stated times, receive for their services a compensation, which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office." (Source: Article 3, Section 1) Thus the Congress may not punish judges by diminishing their salaries, although they may increase their salaries. This is something they are not allowed to do with the president, since the president only serves for four years at a time, and the judges typically serve for life. In theory, there is nothing saying that the judges must be paid the same amount of money as each other, so the Congress can theoretically reward the judges it likes while withholding those pay raises from the ones it doesn't. But this would likely tend to be perceived by the public as an "unethical bribe," even if it was actually legal; and the various laws passed by Congress might prohibit it, even if the Constitution doesn't do so. Thus, the compensation for judges is more complicated than that of compensation for the president; and they would typically be untouchable unless they committed a crime - something which is rare in the United States, possibly because of the judges' being subject to removal in this way.

Supreme Court of the United States

Conclusion: The Constitution keeps politicians in this country on a short leash

The Constitution thus gives a number of answers about what to do with politicians, and who should be eligible to hold such high office. It requires all elected officials to take an oath before entering office (with penalties provided for those who later commit treason against that oath). It gives the exact text required for the presidential oath. It discusses the times, places, and manner of holding elections; and the need for openness and transparency with public money (among other things). It discusses how much money can be used to pay these elected officials, by specifying how the decisions regarding their pay are to be made. I have refrained here from commenting on the length of their terms (which is another important topic); but if you're interested in that subject, see this series' next post for details. (More at the following link.)

"May none but the wise men ever rule under this roof." - John Adams

If you liked this post, you might also like:

How long do Senators and Representatives serve, and how do Congressional elections work?

Justices serving for "good behaviour": De facto lifetime appointment for American judges

Representation: The other "thorny issue" surrounding elected officials in this country

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U. S. Constitution