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It will most likely end up being a paperwork snafu, but it appears that Senator Hillary Clinton is currently ineligible to become the Secretary of State in the Obama administration. Unlike the internet rumors that were flying around in the weeks before the general election that President Obama was somehow ineligible for the presidency because he was not a United States citizen, this issue is grounded in reality.

The issue at hand is Article 1, Section 6 of the Constitution known as the Emoluments Clause. It basically states that a serving member Congress cannot accept a position that was newly created or received a raise during their term in office. Senator Clinton faces this problem because the Secretary of State received a raise while she was serving in the Senate (It was long overdue, the Sec. of State still makes less than $200k.)

The issue has come up before in modern American history. During the Nixon administration, President Nixon wanted to appoint Senator William Saxbe of Ohio as his Attorney General. He was ineligible because the office of Attorney General had received a raise during his time in the Senate. President Nixon, in what is now known as the "Saxbe fix," was able to get Congress to reduce the Attorney General's wage to the previous level making Saxbe appointable. President George H.W. Bush, just before leaving office, also approved a "Saxbe fix" so that Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen could move from the Senate to take that job in the Clinton administration.

The Daily Kos is urging President-elect Obama and Congress to do the same in this case to insure Senator Clinton is able to be appointed.

The Emoluments Clause 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 increased during such time; and no Person holding any Office under the United States, shall be a Member of either House during his Continuance in Office."

Labels: 2008's President, Politics