As the nation prepares to celebrate the 250th anniversary of independence, Americans are reflecting on the principles that shaped the republic: representative government, accountability to taxpayers and a skepticism of the self-interest too often exhibited by those in public office.
Those values are at the center of a little-known lawsuit working its way through federal court.
South Carolina Congressman Jim Clyburn is a plaintiff in a lawsuit brought by a handful of current and former lawmakers suing taxpayers for retroactive pay hikes. They argue that repeated congressional votes to block automatic cost-of-living adjustments violated the 27th Amendment.
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