Clinton as Secretary of State Could Face Court Challenge

 As I have written about here, Hillary Clinton is ineligible to become Secretary of state under the constitution according to Article 1, Section 6.

 There is a chance that this matter could face litigation to prevent the thwarting of the constitution by the Obama administration, who many of us feel has a lackluster feeling toward the constitution in the first place, and his nomination of the ineligible Hillary Clinton.

A conservative watchdog group is considering litigation to prevent Hillary Clinton from becoming the next Secretary of State, saying Congress’ action Wednesday to clear a legal hurdle for her nomination runs counter to the Constitution.

Judicial Watch says that Clinton is ineligible to serve as Secretary of State because the Constitution prohibits members of Congress from being appointed to an office that saw a pay increase during their time in office. In January 2008, President Bush signed an executive boosting Cabinet secretaries’ pay to $191,300.

Both the house and senate voted to reduce Hillary’s salary back to the pre-raise level. The issue here is the pay raise that the position received during Hillary Clinton’s brief stint as a New York senator. This clause in the constitution was design to stop cronyism in government and because the position of secretary of state received a raise while Hillary was a senator she is ineligible to serve as secretary of state.

 The vote to return the salary to the level it was at before Hillary became senator is not without precedent, this “work-around” was used by Presidents Nixon, Carter, and Clinton. The reduction of salary does not change the unconstitutionality of the appointment, the constitution is clear. This measure does not make the appointment constitutional it just sidesteps around the constitution.

 This challenge will probably go nowhere as a precedent has already been set, but that doesn’t make it right. Or constitutional.