So Hillary Clinton is "on track" to be the nation's top diplomat, huh? Well, setting aside the wisdom of that decision — forget ideology; does she have both foreign policy expertise and a good working relationship with the President-elect? — it appears that there may be genuine constitutional problems with her expected nomination. To wit, Article I, section 6, clause 2 reads:
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 [sic] during such time…
That is, under this "Emoluments Clause," members of Congress are expressly forbidden to take any appointed position within the government which was created or whose pay has been increased during their current term in office.
I've been waiting on this seed. I can't resolve this for myself but I'll bet there is some fancy footwork coming.
With the cabinet largely set, what is the alternative?
And if a cabinet appointee first resigns her/his post...? A resignation prior to appointment would satisfy the letter, if not the spirit, of the law.
There is no issue here, other than the fact that she will have to resign her Senate seat, and if the cabinet position pays more than the Senate position (doubtful), the salaray would have to be reduced. There is a lot of precedent on this issue.
Whoops, quick search proves me wrong... a US Senator earns $169,300 (assuming they're not the pro tempore or party leader) - Cabinet positions pay $191,300. So yes, she'd need a Saxbe fix passed in order to be allowed to serve.
I think you are missing the issue. It's whether the salary of Secretary of State was increased while Clinton was in office. It's designed to keep a Senator from getting the pay raised for a nice position, and then getting appointed to that position and benefitting from that pay raise action.
Nope, not missing the issue at all. If she is to receive the position, the salary paid will have to be reduced to her Senate level in order to stay in bounds of the Constitution. There is lots of precedent for this, as noted by the fact that the "fix" is named after someone. The Congress must authorize this, of course, but historically they have based on the fact that the spirit of the article was to prevent government officials from creating high paid jobs and then taking them themselves.
Sorry jimi, that does not appear to be a correct reading of the requirement, according to either the article or the wikipedia link you posted:
The Saxbe fix or simply a "rollback" is a solution to a restriction by the Ineligibility Clause contained in Article One of the United States Constitution on sitting members of the United States Congress changing jobs which are created for them or for which the salary was increased while they were in office.
The issue was the change in salary for the position of Secretary of State, not the relative worth of that versus her current salary. The salary will be temporarily rolled back to the previous amount that the Secretary of State got.
United States President Richard Nixon wanted to appoint Saxbe as the United States Attorney General from his position as a United States Senator from Ohio following the firing of Elliot Richardson in the Saturday Night Massacre in 1973.[1] Saxbe had been a Senator in 1969 when the Congress passed a pay increase from US$35,000 to $60,000 for Cabinet members.[5] Congress eventually allowed the appointment when it accepted Nixon's request to lower the attorney general's salary to its pre-1969 level. Saxbe went on to serve as Nixon's fourth and final Attorney General.[6]
Yea, this isn't unprecedented, or even controversial.
She simply has to resign her Legislative branch position (her Senate seat) before accepting an Executive branch position (SecState).
From the Saxbe fix link above:
In James Madison's notes at the Constitutional Convention, there was fear of members of Congress creating new jobs or giving raises to existing jobs, and then taking them for themselves. Madison viewed creation of offices, and increase of salaries as one of the greatest fears of corruption of legislative service.
It's not just a branch issue. It's an issue of the legislative branch passing legislation to make cushy executive positions for them to then move into after Congress.
the gop never stops being the party of obstruction.. digging deep to derail any decision of obamas.
at any rate it is meaningless senators have been appointed to the cabinate after a raise.
the gop can continue being the party of obstruction but most of america thinks that is just crappy.
you know how the gop first voted to honor mothers on mothers day and then called a new vote and hen each and every one of them slowly voted agaisnt it.. all to shut down government.
This is the gop and how they choose to lead.. by obstruction. By attckign peopel and ideas without offering any of their own. ahh the party of the past.. glad they ae no longer in power.. which we still had two parties though.. hey adam maybe you can get the libs to be viable.
Dude, do you even read the articles any more? What exactly does this have to do with the GOP? Ass.
Touche Adam.
The article exists to keep the branches of government seperate. She resigns from Legislative on Friday, and works in the Executive on Monday.
There isn't an constitutional issue, and she won't have to take a reduced pay. Not that pay matters for her at this point, she's still making $$ on her friggin' book.
Or she can have a nice long vacation flying around in her 757 having lunches and accomplishing nothing like Condoleezza Rice.
Much better.
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 [sic] during such time…
Was the pay of the Secretary of State actually increased during the time in which Hillary was serving as a Senator though? The threshold kicked in now to trigger an adjustment, but that was set by a long ago Congress.
The pay was increased in 2008, while Senator Clinton was elected to her current term in 2006. However, that pay increase from 2008 was just a cost of living adjustment that was actually voted for back in the '90s. However, the Constitution doesn't make it clear that the increase had to stem from an actual vote of the potential candidate.
Either way, it's more of a peculiarity than anything that will cause real problems. Even if there are actual Constitutional concerns they'll just get swept under the rug by a government that could care less about the Constitution, or a limited government.
However, the Constitution doesn't make it clear that the increase had to stem from an actual vote of the potential candidate.
It seems like the spirit of this restriction would require the candidate to have been able to vote on the pay raise.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saxbe_fix#Current_dilemma
This issue has its own paragraph on the Saxbe fix page.
It is unclear whether the salary would need to be reverted to its pre-2000 level or pre-2006 level.[12] However, United States Department of Justice memorandums outline official opinions by United States Attorney General that "the Ineligibility Clause covers only increases during the term that a Member of Congress is currently serving."[13]
Can anyone tell me ONE thing that Condoleezza Rice ever accomplished? Not just in her current job but ever?
She balanced the school budget at Stanford.
Actually, her expertise on Russian affairs could be useful, if not directed by George Bush. She is a world renowned expert.
The Secretary of State is required to present the President's position.
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