APPLICATION OF LAWS TO CONGRESS
Critics of congressional exemptions from various laws have noted that in the Federalist Papers James Madison argued that lawmakers should apply laws to themselves. Madison, in response to charges that the Constitution's design for the House would foster oligarchy, listed a variety of constraints on actions by the House, including the likelihood, in his view, that any law would apply fully to the legislative branch.
`` . . . [T]hey can make no law which will not have its full operation on themselves and their friends, as well as on the great mass of the society. If it be asked, what is to restrain the House of Representatives from making legal discriminations in favor of themselves and a particular class of the society? I answer: the genius of the whole system; the nature of just and constitutional laws; and above all, the vigilant and manly spirit which actuates the people of America -- a spirit which nourishes freedom, and in return is nourished by it. If this spirit shall ever be so far debased as to tolerate a law not obligatory on the legislature, as well as on the people, the people will be prepared to tolerate any thing but liberty.''
-- James Madison, referring to the House of Representatives, The Federalist Papers, No. 57.
This chapter outlines congressional exemptions and special rules that have evolved over time for both the House and the Senate, reviews constitutional implications of excluding the Congress from Federal laws, and discusses both laws that apply and do not apply to Congress.