Article 1, Section 6, Paragraph 2
No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been encreased during such time; and no Person holding any Office under the United States, shall be a Member of either House during his Continuance in Office.
No other office of the U.S.
Civil office includes any government job or office.
"Civil" is defined as "Relating to the community, or to the policy and government of the citizens and subjects of a state" in Noah Webster’s Original and Unabridged American Dictionary. The framers of the Constitution wanted to limit the number of offices Senators and Representatives could hold. They also wanted to make sure there was no crossover from Legislative duties to the Judicial or Executive Branches. They had one simple purpose, to vote righteously upon the laws presented in each house. Since the vision was that these men would be involved very briefly in legislative matters, there was a fear they might take up a career in a government office while serving the Legislature.
This would mean that the Legislator would wind up representing the department he worked for instead of the town or jurisdiction he lived in and conducted business.
The following situation made the citizens in Israel want to change from a system of judges and prophets to that of a kingdom. The people did not want to realize that a king would not solve their problems but only add to them. The citizens also did not realize they were at fault for letting corrupt judges rule their land.
1 Samuel 8:1-3, "And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel. Now the name of his firstborn was Joel; and the name of his second, Abiah: they were judges in Beersheba. And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment."
Influence peddling is dangerous, and it really hurts the citizens subjected to it. These sons of Samuel wanted money, and would gladly accept a bribe, even to sway justice. The problem started because they would not follow the rules God laid down for them.
The Constitution can only assume officers would be upright, qualified, and righteous people. These limits were set to keep such honest.
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