Will Clinton Have to Take a Pay Cut?
By Tom Shoop | Wednesday, November 26, 2008 | 08:10 AM
By Tom Shoop | Wednesday, November 26, 2008 | 08:10 AM
My colleague Mike Memoli, who's filling in for Marc Ambinder over at his Atlantic blog, raises a fascinating question: Is Hillary Clinton actually prevented by the Constitution from taking an appointment as secretary of State?
At issue is the "emoluments clause" in Article One, Section Six of the Constitution. It states that no member of Congress can take a federal office for which the "emoluments" (read: salary) have increased during his or her term in office. And the pay for the secretary of State, like other Cabinet members, went up last year.
The situation has come up before, the Washington Post's Al Kamen noted last week. For example, in 1973, after President Nixon nominated Sen. William Saxbe, R-Ohio, to be attorney general, Congress backed his request to lower the attorney general's salary to the level it was at before it was raised in 1969, during Saxbe's term.
Does this mean that Clinton will have to settle for a lower pay rate than her Cabinet colleagues?
Comments
Is this newsworthy - whether Hillary will take a pay cut? Does anyone really believe Hillary is motivated by the size of her paycheck. More to the point - does anyone care? What is newsworthy, at least to me, is the fact of her nomination and the prospect for improved relations with friends and foes around the world.
Dennis H. | Wednesday, December 03, 2008 | 08:28 AMTake the pay cut, Hillary. We need you at State!
helen | Wednesday, November 26, 2008 | 10:00 AMEven if Senator Clinton has to take a pay cut to move into the Secretary of State job, do you really think that will be an issue?
Taking a pay cut is the least of her concerns.
Eugene Talley | Wednesday, November 26, 2008 | 08:19 AMABOUT THIS BLOG
Government Executive Editor Tom Shoop takes a look at news and events affecting the federal bureaucracy, from the perspective of a longtime observer of government.
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