Article II — Section 1

The Presidential Compensation Clause emerged from a deep concern the framers shared about executive independence. Having witnessed colonial governors who were financially dependent on colonial assemblies — and who could therefore be pressured, rewarded, or punished through the manipulation of their salaries — the framers were determined that the new executive would not be similarly vulnerable. The power of the purse, if extended to the President's own wages, could effectively subordinate the executive branch to whichever legislative faction controlled appropriations. The clause was designed to sever that lever of influence entirely by fixing compensation for the duration of a term and prohibiting mid-term adjustments in either direction.