Hillary Clinton’s pay raise in question

WASHINGTON — Looks like the “Saxbe Fix” is in. Congress appears set to circumvent the “emoluments clause” of the Constitution and allow Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton to be secretary of state. The clause says that no member of Congress shall be named to any office “the emoluments whereof shall have been increased during his term.” This applies whether the member actually voted on the raises or not. Clinton was in the Senate when Cabinet officers recently received a pay raise.

The Senate is working on a bill reducing the pay for secretary of state to where it was before the raise. (The most famous instance, in 1973, reduced the pay for attorney general so Sen. William Saxbe, R-Ohio, could take the job.)

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said this week that she’d go along. “There is precedent for how to address this issue and Congress will act if necessary,” Pelosi spokesman Brendan Daly told Talking Points Memo.