Sec of State Hillary Clinton? Pt. 2

A couple of weeks ago I wrote an entry on Hillary Clinton and her quest to be appointed the next Sec of State by president-elect Barack Obama and how it was against the Constitution to do so. I cited the emoluments clause in Article 1, Section 6. Well, bless her heart, she has graciously stated that she will work as the Sec of State for what the previous salary was, before she voted for the increase. Isn't that special?

However, there is still a problem.

I was reading an article this morning that pointed out that the Sec of State is a civil office, not an elected office. Nobody elects the Sec of State or any other member of the cabinet, they are appointed by the President and then confirmed by a majority in Congress. That is fine, except in that same clause in the Constitution there is a snag for Madame Sec Clinton. Here is the opening section of the clause -

No Senator or Representative shall, during the time for which he was elected, be appointed to any Civil office . . .

Whoa, hold on there. Hillary Clinton was elected to a 6 year term in the Senate in 2006 by the voters of New York state. Her term expires in 2012 and she is eligible for another office in 2013. It is now 2008, she is still in the term which she was elected for and she is being appointed to a civil office (Sec of State). That can't happen, that goes against the Constitution.

This issue came up with Gerald Ford and the resignation of Vice President Spiro Agnew back in 1973. The 25th amendment gave the President (Nixon) the authority to appoint a Vice President and for Congress to confirm the appointment but was Gerald Ford (a representative from Michigan) eligible for the appointment per Article 1, Section 6? Is the office of Vice President, since Nixon was appointing him and the people had not elected him to that office, a civil office? Yes it is. But the nomination went through anyways and Gerald Ford ended up being President of the United States after Nixon resigned.

Even if Hillary resigns her Senate seat, which she will and let us all pray that Caroline Kennedy or Fran Dreshcher are not appointed to that seat, she is still not eligible for the seat. Not until 2013 when her elected term is up.

Here is the article that prompted these thoughts, the author does an excellent job of laying out the case against Hillary's nomination. The Constitution? Bah, who needs the Constitution!