In a letter to Montana’s Legislative Services, the congressman notes that the U.S. Constitution prohibits the payment of debts in anything but gold and silver, and says that his oath to the Constitution and the people he represents can only be honored if the government pays his legislative salary to him, “in gold and silver coins that will still have value when the U.S. dollar is reduced to junk status.”
The dollar bill is legal tender for all debts public and private. Refusing to accept payment in dollars bills is tantamount to forfeiting the debt.
When campaigning, some of my constituents informed me I was not honoring my duty to uphold and defend the United States Constitution. The area of their concern is the prohibition, contained in Article I, Section 10, that states, “No state shall – - make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts – -.” They ask me how I, a policy maker for the State of Montana, can ignore this clear constitutional prohibition.
No State did since the Federal Government is not a State and the dollars he's getting paid with are issued by the Federal Reserve on behalf of the Federal Government.
The only answer I can come up with is to honor my oath to the U.S. Constitution and request that your debt to me be paid in gold and silver coins that will still have value when the U.S. dollar is reduced to junk status. I therefore request my legislative pay to be in gold and silver coins that are unadulterated with base metals.
Ask all you want. Dollars are legal tender; if you won't take them, that's your problem.