Clinton would get less pay than Rice
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Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) would make about $4,700 less as secretary of State than her predecessor, Condoleezza Rice.
Congress lowered the salary for the nation’s top diplomat to keep Clinton’s nomination from running afoul of the Constitution. An obscure section on compensation for public officials says no member of Congress can be appointed to a government post if that job’s pay was increased during the lawmaker’s current term.
In other words, Clinton might have been ineligible to serve in the post because she was in Congress when Rice’s salary was raised to $191,300. So late Wednesday, the House and Senate quietly rolled the secretary of State’s salary back to $186,600, its level in January 2007 when Clinton began her second Senate term.
Even at the lower rate, Clinton would get a raise over her Senate salary. Senators now make $169,300 and are expected to receive a raise to $174,000 next year.
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