Saxbe fix, or salary rollback, is a mechanism by which the President of the United States, in appointing a current or former member of the United States Congress whose elected term has not yet expired, can avoid the restriction of the United States Constitution's Ineligibility Clause.
| FactSnippet No. 2,020,723 |
The Saxbe fix has subsequently become relevant as a successful—though not universally accepted—solution for appointments by presidents of both parties of sitting members of the United States Congress to the United States Cabinet.
| FactSnippet No. 2,020,724 |
Saxbe fix was chosen in large part because, despite the confrontations of the ongoing Watergate scandal, Nixon felt the Senate would want to confirm one of their own.
| FactSnippet No. 2,020,725 |
Saxbe fix had been a senator in 1969 when the Congress passed a pay increase from $35,000 to $60,000 for Cabinet members.
| FactSnippet No. 2,020,726 |
Saxbe fix had become a Senator on January 3,1969 and on February 14 the legislation became law when Congress took no action to veto the proposal that raised the salary of top executive branch officials, the judicial branch and members of Congress.
| FactSnippet No. 2,020,727 |
Saxbe fix later wrote that although he needed the additional salary he lost, he was still willing to serve as Attorney General and would get by financially.
| FactSnippet No. 2,020,728 |
In 1994, President Bill Clinton received approval to use a Saxbe fix to appoint United States Senate Majority Leader George J Mitchell to the Supreme Court, but Mitchell withdrew his name from consideration for reasons unrelated to his eligibility.
| FactSnippet No. 2,020,729 |
Term "Saxbe fix" reentered the public lexicon in 2008 with the speculation that Senator Hillary Clinton was President-elect Barack Obama's preferred nominee to be Secretary of State, fueled by Obama's confirmation of his intent to nominate Clinton December 1,2008.
| FactSnippet No. 2,020,730 |
Conservative advocacy group Judicial Watch announced after the nomination that it believed a Saxbe fix was unconstitutional and that Clinton could not become Secretary of State until 2013 at the earliest.
| FactSnippet No. 2,020,731 |
Bush helped Democratic incoming President Bill Clinton execute the Saxbe fix by signing it into law on the eve of Clinton's inauguration.
| FactSnippet No. 2,020,732 |
Constitutionality of the Saxbe fix has been much debated and the US Supreme Court has never directly ruled on it.
| FactSnippet No. 2,020,733 |
Any Saxbe fix is such a law and should be disallowed based on this fact alone.
| FactSnippet No. 2,020,734 |