The right-wingers are at it again...trying to take the Clintons down the road of yet another "Constitutional crsis."Apparently there is an obscure clause in Article I, Section 6 of the Constitution that prohibits members of Congress from being named to federal offices (like the President's cabinet) if a pay raise went into effect for the federal job while the congressman was in office.
This past January, President Bush issued an executive order raising the annual salary for Secretary of State from $186,600 to $191,300. When that raise went into effect, Hillary Clinton was a sitting United States Senator. According to the Constitutional verbiage, she is therefore disqualified from heading the State Department.
I'm no scholar on matters of constitutional law, but two things are clear to me:
1. This is an antiquated clause that disqualifies too may competent, qualified candidates, and it should be repealed by amendment. In this day and age it isn't uncommon for federal officers to receive pay raises every year or two. Moreover, many House and Senate members hold their seats for decades. Conceivably, countless pay raises could have taken place when a president taps them for a cabinet or other government job.
2. If the Republicans are going to make this a problem then, upon taking office, President Obama should repeal Mr. Bush's executive order and return the Secretary of State's salary to $186,600.
A rather simple fix, no?
What is obvious to me, a guy who railed against the Bush administration's sullying of the Constitution, is that if the pay for State Secretary can not be reduced to its original level, then, according to Article I, Section 6, Sen. Clinton's nomination needs to be reconsidered.
But I hope this can be fixed, and then the Constitution amended to change this 18th century rule.
