Election Mechanics · Proposed in 1789, ratified in 1992 — the slowest amendment in American history
The most recent amendment delays any congressional pay raise from taking effect until after the next House election — and it started as one of the original twelve amendments proposed alongside the Bill of Rights, sitting dormant for over two centuries before finally being ratified.
No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened.
Twenty-Seventh Amendment, ratified 1992
How an Amendment Sat Dormant for Two Centuries
Congress proposed twelve amendments in 1789; ten were ratified quickly as the Bill of Rights. This one, regulating congressional pay raises, fell short of the needed states and was largely forgotten — until a University of Texas student, Gregory Watson, wrote a 1982 paper arguing it was still technically valid and could still be ratified, since the original proposal set no deadline. He received a C on the paper, then spent a decade personally lobbying state legislatures to finish the job.
Amendments without a ratification deadline can genuinely stay open for centuries
A common misconception is that a proposed constitutional amendment automatically expires if states don’t ratify it quickly. That’s only true when Congress explicitly sets a deadline in the proposal itself — something Congress began doing routinely only after this amendment’s slow ratification made the risk obvious. Without an explicit deadline, a proposed amendment can technically remain open for ratification indefinitely, exactly as this one did.
