"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 increased during such time."
U.S. Constitution
Article 1, Section 6
That's a tricky clause for Hillary Clinton to get around in her quest to become secretary of state, as bloggers have been writing lately.
The QandO blog points out that, while the salary for the secretary of state has gone up while Clinton has been in the Senate, the increase was achieved through executive order, not congressional action.
That, says Professor Michael Stokes Paulsen, does not matter.
"[T]he content of the rule here is broader than its purpose," he writes. "And the rule is the rule; the purpose is not the rule."
President-elect Barack Obama announced his national security team today. It remains to be seen if Clinton's nomination will be permitted to stand.
I'm not a lawyer, nor am I an expert on the Constitution. But it seems to me that, because the salary increase was achieved through executive order, no one from the legislative branch should be disqualified from holding a "civil office."
But I also think it's an issue that should be clarified by the courts.
No comments:
Post a Comment