Congressional Pensions: YOU Pay the Bill!
Sep 14, 2026 · 15 min · 8 segments
Sep 14, 2026 · 15 min · 8 segments
To set the stage, we'll start with a couple stories brought to our attention by Kim Strassel at the Wall Street Journal in May.
First, former California representative and term limits foe Eric Slawwell resigned last April under a cloud of sexual misconduct allegations.
Now, whether he is convicted of anything or not, he is going to receive about $22,000 a year starting at age 62 for life.
And this is because the type of sex charges he would face are on a special list of exemptions that Congress created so that disgraced Congress members could keep their pensions.
Representative Corrine Brown of Florida served 24 years in Congress and was indicted and convicted on a stack of fraud and tax counts.
She successfully appealed based on a technicality and improper removal of the juror.
Then she ended up negotiating a plea deal, but only on the charges that were not on the exemptions list.
She was sentenced to five years in prison, but is collecting a $71,000 annual pension for the rest of her life.
Number three, Texas Representative Tony Gonzalez resigned the same week as Swalwell last year after spending just over five years in office.
Now, why did he wait until shortly after the five-year mark to resign? Well, because that's the Congressional Pension's five-year cliff-vesting schedule.
This disgraced Congress member will get between $8,000 or $9,000 a year forever.
What about the selfless Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who announced she would resign last fall due to important policy differences with the administration? Now, please note that Representative Greene did not actually resign until 46 days after the announcement.
But more importantly, why is there a congressional pension at all? And how would term limits alter the pension expense to taxpayers? Well, let's discuss that in some detail in just a moment.
To set the stage, we'll start with a couple stories brought to our attention by Kim Strassel at the Wall Street Journal in May.
First, former California representative and term limits foe Eric Slawwell resigned last April under a cloud of sexual misconduct allegations.
Now, whether he is convicted of anything or not, he is going to receive about $22,000 a year starting at age 62 for life.
And this is because the type of sex charges he would face are on a special list of exemptions that Congress created so that disgraced Congress members could keep their pensions.
Representative Corrine Brown of Florida served 24 years in Congress and was indicted and convicted on a stack of fraud and tax counts.
She successfully appealed based on a technicality and improper removal of the juror.
Then she ended up negotiating a plea deal, but only on the charges that were not on the exemptions list.
She was sentenced to five years in prison, but is collecting a $71,000 annual pension for the rest of her life.
Number three, Texas Representative Tony Gonzalez resigned the same week as Swalwell last year after spending just over five years in office.
Now, why did he wait until shortly after the five-year mark to resign? Well, because that's the Congressional Pension's five-year cliff-vesting schedule.
This disgraced Congress member will get between $8,000 or $9,000 a year forever.
What about the selfless Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who announced she would resign last fall due to important policy differences with the administration? Now, please note that Representative Greene did not actually resign until 46 days after the announcement.
But more importantly, why is there a congressional pension at all? And how would term limits alter the pension expense to taxpayers? Well, let's discuss that in some detail in just a moment.
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