Senator Clinton Ineligible?

I haven't looked around the local Lowell Blogs to see if this is being debated,* but a question has been raised in the blogosphere by several lawyer bloggers (see here for example) about whether Senator Hillary Clinton is eligible for the position of Secretary of State.

It all turns on the Constitution and in particular Art. I, § 6, cl. 2,

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 whereof shall have been encreased during such time ....

It turns out the pay for the Secretary of State was increased in January of 2007 and that was during Senator Clinton's term of office.

Of course this is not the first time this has come up. There is something called the "Saxbe Fix," whereby Congress passes a bill changing the salary back to what it was when Senator Clinton started her term of office. This fix is not without its critics, as you can see by checking out the Volokh Conspiracy on this subject.

My view--and not a legal view--is that the President should get pretty much the Cabinet he wants and the Saxbe Fix should go in. And, I don't think we care about this with regard to being elected President, but then we don't elect that many Senators or Representatives to that office.

Regards -- Cliff

* My excuse is that I am on my Wife's computer and can't access all my URLs.
** Another view here.