Congress' salaries are paid for from the general revenues collected by the federal government. Since the United States only collects revenues (taxes) through various income taxes (including the withholdings for Medicare and Social Security), Congress is in effect paid by taxpayers.
Chat with our AI personalities
jasy
They are paid by the United States government, and their salary is set by the law.
Congressional salaries
If you see "COUNTRY/PAYS" on, for example, a passport, it means "country." "Pays" is the French word for "country."
The 27th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States became the rule that restrained congressional salaries. Oddly, this was proposed by James Madison in 1789, but it was not finalized until 1992.