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by RALPH NORMAN
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Americans nationwide are demanding greater oversight on Capitol Hill. They want to know their voices are being heard. And the public is exposing those who attempt to evade accountability.
At this very moment, Hillary Clinton is under investigation by the House Oversight Committee for her decades of corruption in Washington. Representative Nancy Pelosi similarly has amassed unprecedented scrutiny for stock trades and wealth accumulation while serving in Congress—something President Donald Trump highlighted in his recent State of the Union. Meanwhile, Minnesota has become a regular national headline for its brazen waste of billions of taxpayer dollars under the leadership of failed Governor Tim Walz.
This is exactly why I introduced H.R. 7628, legislation to eliminate automatic pay raises for Members of Congress and return transparency to Washington.
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While mainstream media may focus on political headlines, what has gone largely unnoticed is that Members of Congress are currently pushing for selfish pay raises. If successful, lawmakers could see significant salary boosts, all while the national debt exceeds $38 trillion. That’s a reality most Americans would find hard to believe.
On top of that, a group of lawmakers is suing for back pay, a move that would open the door for millions more in taxpayer-funded compensation.
That group includes Representative Jim Clyburn from my home state of South Carolina. It is disappointing to see elected officials pursue policies that would ultimately burden the very constituents they were elected to represent. But that is the state of Washington today. Even as our national debt approaches the size of our entire economy, congressional money grabs have become normalized.
As a businessman and a representative of South Carolina’s Fifth District, I know this approach is wrong. My bill would terminate automatic pay adjustments for Members of Congress and repeal the provision that allows them.
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Some argue that serving in Congress is demanding, and higher pay would incentivize longer service. But at a time when fewer than 1 in 5 Americans approve of Congress, when our President is tackling unbalanced trade, and when transparency has become taboo on Capitol Hill, that argument falls flat.
Automatic pay increases for Members of Congress risk widening the gap between elected officials and the working Americans they represent. They are fiscally irresponsible and prioritize self-interest over public service. These actions expose a system that too often rewards tenure instead of performance.
It is unthinkable that lawmakers can fail their constituents and still expect a raise. In the private sector, pay is tied to performance, not titles. Congress should be no different. I look forward to advancing this bill. The American people deserve transparency, accountability, and a renewed sense of trust in our government.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Ralph Norman represents the people of South Carolina’s fifth congressional district in Washington, D.C. A businessman, he is the conservative choice for Governor of South Carolina in 2026.
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4 comments
As usual, Norman pretends his privilege is a virtue. One of the richest men in Congress thanks to inherited wealth, he wants to keep less-rich members of Congress uncomfortable, mostly because more of them are Democrats than Republicans.
But I don’t blame him for wanting to distract us from the recent industrial-accident problem with Silfab Solar that he helped create, from the money his company got from taxpayers during the pandemic and never paid back, from the time he acknowledged, on video, having broken two different South Carolina gun laws without having any sense that he’d screwed up, from calling for martial law to control peaceful protesters.
Norman is just an awful guy.
Decades of corruption? Please stop throwing out allegations without proof disingenuous.
This whole paragraph is click bait:
“At this very moment, Hillary Clinton is under investigation by the House Oversight Committee for her decades of corruption in Washington. Representative Nancy Pelosi similarly has amassed unprecedented scrutiny for stock trades and wealth accumulation while serving in Congress— something President Donald Trump highlighted in his recent State of the Union. Meanwhile, Minnesota has become a regular national headline for its brazen waste of billions of taxpayer dollars under the leadership of failed Governor Tim Walz.”
Please stop treating your constituents as if we are uneducated and please stop throwing lies out there too promote hate for the people who are not even in office right now.
We are not that shallow.
Why don’t you focus on why we are at war for no apparent good reason and why everyone from the top is lying and given multiple stories about the reason.
Yes we need higher wages to keep up with cost. Please focus on the things that really matter
I agree with no raises as he stated, it encourages them to stay longer and it ultimately boils down to term limits!
I bet Ralphie wouldn’t be pushing for this if he were planning to stay in Congress rather than running for Governor of SC.