H.R. 5539 – Thomas Jefferson Public Service Act of 2018

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Updated April 15, 2026 at 9:21 PM UTC

The Thomas Jefferson Public Service Act of 2018 lowers the pay of long‑serving members of Congress to a symbolic $1 per year once they have served six straight terms in the House or two straight terms in the Senate. It also prevents that post‑limit service from being counted toward a federal retirement annuity and stops any contributions to the retirement system for those periods. The bill applies to any qualifying member serving during the 116th Congress or later.

Key Provisions

Members of the House who have completed six consecutive full terms, or Senators who have completed two consecutive full terms, will have their annual salary set to $1 for any pay period after that service.
Any congressional service performed after reaching those term limits will not count toward retirement annuity calculations under the federal civil service retirement system.
No government or individual contributions will be made to the retirement system for the excluded service periods.

Legislative Activity

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2 earlier actions

HouseIntro Referral Latest Action

Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR H3494)

April 24, 2018

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HouseIntro Referral

Introduced in House

April 17, 2018

HouseIntro Referral

Referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

Committee on House Administration

April 17, 2018

HouseIntro Referral

Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR H3494)

April 24, 2018

Floor Debate

1 member

What members said about H.R. 5539 on the floor

1 Republican

Rep. Francis RooneyR-FL-19 · May 8, 2018

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to discuss a creative solution to enacting term limits without amending the Constitution, H.R. 5539, the Thomas Jefferson Public Service Act of 2018. Under this proposal,…

Bill Text

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Introduced in HouseIssued April 17, 2018

I

115th CONGRESS

2d Session

H. R. 5539

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

April 17, 2018

Mr. Francis Rooney of Florida (for himself, Ms. Tenney, Mr. Gaetz, Mr. Gallagher, Mr. Meadows, Mr. Blum, Mr. Brat, and Mr. Norman) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To set the annual rate of compensation for a Member of Congress who has served six consecutive terms as a Member of the House of Representatives or two consecutive terms as a Senator at $1, to amend title 5, United States Code, to exclude any service of a Member of Congress occurring during any pay period for which the Member’s annual rate of compensation is $1 as creditable service for purposes of an annuity under that title, and for other purposes.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Thomas Jefferson Public Service Act of 2018.

2.

Establishment of annual rate of pay of $1 for Members of Congress serving six consecutive terms in House or two consecutive terms in Senate

(a)

Establishment of annual rate of pay at $1

Section 601(a) of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (2 U.S.C. 4501) is amended—

(1)

by striking The annual rate of pay and inserting Except as provided in paragraph (3), the annual rate of pay; and

(2)

by adding at the end the following new paragraph:

(3)

The annual rate of pay for an individual described in paragraph (1) shall be $1 for any pay period occurring—

(A)

in the case of an individual who is a Member of the House of Representatives, including a Delegate or Resident Commissioner to the Congress, after the individual has served 6 consecutive full terms as a Member of the House of Representatives; or

(B)

in the case of an individual who is a Senator, after the individual has served 2 consecutive full terms as a Senator.

.

(b)

Effective date

The amendment made by subsection (a) shall apply with respect to terms of service occurring during the One Hundred Sixteenth Congress or any succeeding Congress.

3.

Exclusion of Member service for purposes of retirement

(a)

In general

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, after an individual who is a Member of Congress has served for 6 consecutive full terms in the House of Representatives or 2 consecutive full terms in the Senate, any service of that individual as a Member of Congress after the end of that sixth or second term (as the case may be) shall not be creditable service for purposes of an annuity under chapter 83 or 84 of title 5, United States Code.

(b)

Contributions

With respect to any service as a Member of Congress excluded by operation of subsection (a), no individual or Government contributions shall be made on behalf of that Member under sections 8334, 8422, or 8423 of title 5, United States Code.

(c)

Effective date

This section shall apply with respect to terms of service as a Member of Congress occurring during the One Hundred Sixteenth Congress or any succeeding Congress.

(d)

Definition of Member of Congress

In this section, the term Member of Congress has the meaning given the term Member in section 8331(2) and 8401(20) (as the case may be) of title 5, United States Code.