The appointment of Hillary Clinton to the office of U.S. secretary of state is unconstitutional, according to a report by Judicial Watch.
President-elect Barack Obama on Monday announced his former Democratic rival candidate as his choice of secretary of state when the new administration takes office in January, to replace Bush appointee Condoleezza Rice.
However, Judicial Watch, a public watchdog that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, said on its website that Clinton is constitutionally barred from taking the office due to a pay-rise Rice received while Clinton was senator, citing the Ineligibility Clause of the United States Constitution. The clause was included by the Founding Fathers when the constitution was written in 1787 to protect against corruption.
“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 [wages] whereof shall have been encreased during such time,” according to the clause.
Former President Richard Nixon was able to get around the constitutional provision when he appointed Ohio Senator William Saxbe to the position of attorney general. The Nixon administration forced legislation through Congress to reduce the salary for the position of attorney general to the level of that before Senator Saxbe”s appointment. Known after this incident as “The Saxbe Fix,” it was again used to allow Senator Lloyd Bensen”s assuming the position of treasury secretary under President Clinton.
