Representatives and Delegates-elect to Congress, whose credentials in due form of law have been duly filed with the Clerk of the House of Representatives, in accordance with the provisions of section 26 of this title, may receive their compensation monthly, from the beginning of their term until the beginning of the first session of each Congress, upon a certificate in the form now in use to be signed by the Clerk of the House, which certificate shall have the like force and effect as is given to the certificate of the Speaker.

Each Member and Delegate, after he has taken and subscribed the required oath, is entitled to receive his salary at the end of each month.

Section 5302 of this title shall not be construed as being applicable to a Senator.

The salaries of Representatives in Congress, Delegates from Territories, and Resident Commissioners, elected for unexpired terms, shall commence on the date of their election and not before.

When any individual who has been elected a Member of, or Resident Commissioner to, the House of Representatives dies after the commencement of the Congress to which he has been elected, any unpaid balance of salary and other sums due such individual shall be paid to the person or persons surviving at the date of death, in the following order of precedence, and such payment shall be a bar to the recovery by any other person of amounts so paid:

First, to the beneficiary or beneficiaries designated by such individual in writing to receive such unpaid balance and other sums due filed with the Chief Administrative Officer of the House of Representatives and received by the Chief Administrative Officer prior to such individual’s death;

Second, if there be no such beneficiary, to the widow or widower of such individual;

Third, if there be no beneficiary or surviving spouse, to the child or children of such individual, and descendants of deceased children, by representation;

Fourth, if none of the above, to the parents of such individual, or the survivor of them;

Fifth, if there be none of the above, to the duly appointed legal representative of the estate of the deceased individual, or if there be none, to the person or persons determined to be entitled thereto under the laws of the domicile of the deceased individual.

The Chief Administrative Officer of the House of Representatives (upon certification by the Clerk of the House of Representatives) shall deduct from the monthly payments (or other periodic payments authorized by law) of each Member or Delegate the amount of his salary for each day that he has been absent from the House, unless such Member or Delegate assigns as the reason for such absence the sickness of himself or of some member of his family.

Salary and mileage accounts of Representatives and Delegates shall be certified by the Speaker of the House of Representatives; and such certificates shall be conclusive upon all the departments and officers of the Government.

The Speaker is authorized to designate from time to time some one from among those appointed by him and appropriated for and employed in his office, whose duty it shall be under the direction of the Speaker to sign in his name and for him all certificates required by section 5307 of this title for salary and accounts for traveling expenses in going to and returning from Congress of Representatives and Delegates.

The moneys which have been, or may be, appropriated for the compensation and mileage of Members and Delegates shall be paid at the Treasury on requisitions drawn by the Chief Administrative Officer of the House of Representatives, and shall be kept, disbursed, and accounted for by him according to law, and he shall be a disbursing officer, but he shall not be entitled to any compensation additional to the salary fixed by law.

The Clerk of the House of Representatives is authorized and directed to sign, during the recess of Congress after the first session and until the first day of the second session, the certificates for the monthly compensation of Members and Delegates in Congress, which certificate shall be in the form in use on August 15, 1876, and shall have the like force and effect as is given to the certificate of the Speaker.