The Twenty-Seventh Amendment

No law varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and 
Representatives shall take effect, until an election of Representatives 
shall have intervened.
The Twenty-Seventh Amendment was ratified almost 203 years after it was proposed by James Madison.
The Amendment establishes that members of Congress’ pay raises or decreases can only take effect after
the next election.
This cartoon demonstrates a possible scenario of congressmen overpaying themselves before the ratification of the twenty seventh 
amendment. In comparison to regular workers, congressmen could have potentially used their power to take raises while others take
devastating pay cuts. This is no longer such a prominent issue.

This article explains the history of the twenty seventh amendment and how it took over two hundred years to finally become 
ratified. It also goes in depth with James Madison’s intentions and motivation besides the need for this amendment in order 
to prevent members of Congress from overpaying themselves.

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