Salary Grab Act

Politicians accusing each other for taking the Salary Grab. The caption reads: That salary grab—"You took it". Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, December 27, 1873

The Salary Grab Act was passed by the United States Congress on March 3, 1873. The effect of the Act was, the day before the second-term inauguration of President Ulysses S. Grant, to double the salary of the President (to $50,000) and the salaries of Supreme Court Justices. Hidden in the salary increases was also a 50% increase for members of Congress, retroactive to the beginning of their just-ending term. Public outcry led Congress to rescind the congressional salary increase.^[1] As a protest against the Act, Ohio ratified what would become the Twenty-seventh Amendment.^[1]

See also

• Twenty-seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution

References

1. Dean, John W. (7 September 2002). "The Telling Tale of the Twenty-Seventh Amendment: A Sleeping Amendment Concerning Congressional Compensation Is Later Revived". FindLaw. Retrieved 12 July 2014.