Ineligibility Clause - Purpose and Origins

Purpose and Origins

The purpose of the clause is twofold: to protect separation of powers by ensuring that no member of the Executive or judicial branches of the federal government of the United States could simultaneously serve in the Legislative Branch and to prevent Congress from conspiring to create offices or increase federal officials' salaries with the expectation that members of Congress would later be appointed to these posts.

The clause was drafted to prevent similar problems which had occurred in the British Parliament, but the records of the Philadelphia Convention suggest that there was considerable disagreement among the delegates as to what the scope of the disabilities created by the clause should be. The clause does not bar simultaneous service as a federal judge and member of the executive branch, and under John Adams, John Marshall served as both United States Secretary of State and Chief Justice of the United States. It is not clear whether a member of Congress could hold a reserve commission in the armed forces, as the only case was never ruled upon due to lack of legal standing.

The prominent anti-Federalist politician Luther Martin reported that the clause, as originally drafted by the Philadelphia Convention, would have operated to prevent members of Congress from being appointed to offices in either the federal government and the governments of their respective home states for the period which they were elected to serve but that this part of the clause drew objections and was stricken from the article.

Luther also criticized the clause itself, feeling that it would be ineffective in preventing this type of self-dealing, because members of Congress could easily create new offices, arrange for others to be appointed to them, and then fill the vacancies created by the movement of these government officers to new positions.