The Twenty-Seventh Amendment to the Constitution states that whenever Congress gives itself a raise, an election must intervene before it takes effect. It was originally proposed in 1789 as part of the group of amendments that became the Bill of Rights. However, it was not ratified by enough states until 1992, after a renewed campaign sparked by a college student’s research.
This amendment allowed voters to hold members of Congress accountable for pay raises or cuts at the next election. This reduces potential self-serving actions and perceived corruption. The last change, which increased salaries to $174,000, was way back in January 2009. Since then, inflation has whittled down congressional pay by one-third.
One Big Beautiful Bill to the Rescue
However, Republicans have found a way around by voting for tax cuts for themselves. The tax cuts aren’t especially helpful to the few non-wealthy members. However, the richest members, whose net worth is often in the hundreds of millions, benefit greatly from the one big beautiful bill.
It is fair to say that some of these rich legislators are Democrats; for example, Nancy Pelosi is worth $274 million. But not a single Democrat voted in July for the $4.5 trillion in tax cuts contained in Trump’s One Big Beautiful bill. The only legislators who voted themselves tax cuts were Republicans. Not a single Republican voted against the bill.
Nonprofit organizations like ITEP and Accountable US studied how much the top ten wealthiest congressional Republicans will gain from the One Big Beautiful Bill. They found that the savings for the rich congress members will be in the five-digit range or more. That dwarfs the $5,600 maximum pay raise that Congress denied itself last December. The best part, these members won’t have to wait for the next election to collect their gains.
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Spectacle vs Reality: The Government Shutdown
Right now, the US government has been in shutdown since October 1, as Republicans and Democrats failed to reach an agreement over funding bills for the 2026 fiscal year. Republicans want to further gut the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid, while increasing the deficit. Roughly 900,000 federal employees have been furloughed, while another 700,000 are working without pay.
Republican Representative Rob Bresnahan, in solidarity with his district’s 10,000 federal employees, refuses to accept his paycheck during the government shutdown. In the unlikely event the current shutdown lasts longer than three weeks, Bresnahan will be out about $10,000. But it’s unlikely he’ll notice. Bresnahan’s net worth is about $48 million, and his tax bill next year will drop by up to $23,600 thanks to the One Big Beautiful Bill.
Another poser, Republican Representative Robb Wittman, will not be accepting his pay during the shutdown. Wittman’s sacrifice won’t cramp his lifestyle because he’s worth about $6 million. The $10,000 Wittman would lose in a three-week shutdown is compensated for by the $59,000 tax cut thanks to the One Big Beautiful Bill.
According to nonprofit Quiver Quantitative, Republicans like Ryan Zinke will save $51,000, Bill Huizenga will save $50,000, Ken Calvert with $35,000, and Mike Carey will enjoy a tax cut of $50,000. A crucial thing to note here is that the Pass-through provision of the One Big Beautiful Bill plays an outsized role in these tax reductions.
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Oligarchs’ Biggest Prize: The Pass-through Provisions
The pass-through provision in the One Big Beautiful Bill refers to the permanent extension and expansion of the Section 199A “qualified business income” deduction. The provision increases the deduction rate and broadens which incomes that qualify. Trump’s bill makes the 20% deduction on qualified pass-through business income permanent. Some reports note that the deduction is increased to 23%, raising the amount owners of pass-through entities can exclude from taxable income.
Critics argue that the pass-through deduction disproportionately benefits the wealthiest Americans. The provision was aimed at benefiting small businesses. But evidence shows that particularly large business owners and billionaires with complex pass-through structures are the ones benefiting from this provision. The largest share of pass-through income flows to affluent individuals who use partnerships and S corporations to shield income from higher individual tax rates.
Wealthy members of Congress are taking full advantage of this provision. For instance, Rob Bresnahan’s income last year was up to $1.97 million, and his pass-through income was up to $715,000. Robb Wittman reported earning up to $883,000 in 2024, of which $508,000 was pass-through income.
On the national level, the pass-through provision will next year reduce taxes for the top one percent in the income distribution by an average of $27,000.
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