WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senators Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and Rick Scott (R-FL) celebrated the Senate passing their No Congressionally-Obligated Recurring Revenue Used as Pensions To Incarcerated Officials Now (No CORRUPTION) Act. This bipartisan legislation would bar former members of Congress who are convicted of felonies related to their official duties from continuing to collect their taxpayer-funded pensions.
“As elected officials, we have a responsibility to act as responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars and it’s clear that members of Congress convicted of serious crimes while in office should not continue to pocket taxpayer-funded pensions,” said Senator Rosen. “Now that the Senate has taken action to close the loophole letting corrupt politicians collect government pensions even after being found guilty of committing a crime, I urge the House to take up and pass this commonsense and bipartisan legislation.”
“Members of Congress who have been convicted of a crime committed while in elected office have no right to collect taxpayer dollars,” said Senator Scott. “Our bill, the No CORRUPTION Act, will stop those elected officials convicted of crimes, like bribery or those linked to their official duties, from collecting a taxpayer-funded pension. Americans work hard for their paychecks, and they shouldn’t be bankrolling corrupt politicians who violate the law in office, so I thank my colleagues for their unanimous support of this important legislation.”
Current law requires former members of Congress to forfeit their pensions only after exhausting their appeals, which allows convicted former members to go on filing one appeal after another for years while collecting their taxpayer-funded pensions. The No CORRUPTION Act amends the law to close that loophole, so former members of Congress lose their pensions immediately following a lawful conviction of certain felonies related to their official duties. The bill would also ensure that convicted former members of Congress who are pardoned by a President of the United States will not receive pensions unless a court overturns their convictions.
Senators Rosen and Scott first introduced the legislation in February 2020 and re-introduced the legislation again in March 2021. Bipartisan companion legislation was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) along with Reps. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY), James Comer (R-KY), Ro Khanna (D-CA), and Tom Rice (R-SC). The No CORRUPTION Act is supported by the National Taxpayers Union.
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