Aw man ... you got him now counselor ... let's impeach the President-elect ...Yawn.
When will this madness end????
You guys don't give up do you ... this issue is as old as CC1.
It's been maneuvered around by sitting Presidents and incoming ones (Republicans and Democrats alike) with what is called the Saxbe Fix
Some info:In James Madison's notes at the 1787 Constitutional Convention, there was fear of members of Congress creating new jobs or giving raises to existing jobs, and then taking them for themselves. Madison viewed creation of offices and increase of salaries as one of the greatest fears of corruption of legislative service. Madison originally proposed a one-year ban on such service, but it was passed in its current form without a time consideration.[2] Corruption like that previously seen in the British Parliament was a consideration during debate by the framers of the Constitution.[3]While this fix is named after Saxbe, it had been used before, on February 11, 1909, when United States Senator from Pennsylvania Philander C. Knox was picked by President Taft to be Secretary of State. At the time, the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary determined the remedy of resetting the salary to its pre-service level, and the whole Senate passed it unanimously.[4][edit]
Legality-Some legal scholars do not believe that the Saxbe fix addresses the constitutional problem. Because the language of the rule is an absolute prohibition, Michael Paulsen, a Constitutional law expert, said that:
A 'fix' can rescind the salary, ... but it cannot repeal historical events. The emoluments of the office had been increased. The rule specified in the text still controls.
Recent examples: United States President Richard Nixon wanted to appoint Saxbe as the United States Attorney General from his position as a United States Senator from Ohio following the firing of Elliot Richardson in the Saturday Night Massacre in 1973.[6] Saxbe had been a Senator in 1969 when the Congress passed a pay increase from US$35,000 to $60,000 for Cabinet members.[7] Congress eventually allowed the appointment when it accepted Nixon's request to lower the attorney general's salary to its pre-1969 level. Saxbe went on to serve as Nixon's fourth and final Attorney General.[8]Jimmy Carter used the fix to appoint Edmund Muskie as his Secretary of State after Cyrus Vance resigned following Carter's attempted military rescue of U.S. hostages in Iran.[6] However, during the Ronald Reagan administration, the solution was deemed inappropriate for the appointment of Orrin Hatch to the United States Supreme Court in June 1987 after Congress had approved $6,000 pay raises for Supreme Court Justices in February.[9][10][11][12] Hatch had been on the short list of two finalists with Robert Bork, but after Bork was rejected and the Ineligibility Clause had been brought to light he was no longer under consideration. Thus, Bork, Douglas Ginsburg and Anthony Kennedy were subsequently nominated.[10]The issue came up again when as he was leaving office, President George H.W. Bush approved a Saxbe fix so that Lloyd Bentsen could move from the Senate to take the job of Treasury Secretary during the Bill Clinton administration.[13] Ten Democratic Senators voted against the most recent use of the ploy on constitutional grounds, including current Senator Robert C. Byrd of United States Senator from West Virginia (the only remaining Senator currently serving). Byrd explained his position at the time: "we should not delude the American people into thinking a way can be found around the constitutional obstacle.
The logic behind objections to the Saxbe fix is that an increase and offsetting decrease are still unconstitutional, but the common interpretation that has traditionally carried the majority is that the legislative intent was that net increases are the relevant consideration.[8]
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saxbe_fix
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