U.S. Congress

Judicial Watch, perhaps best known for its judicial harassment of the Clintons in the 90s, is at it again. Today, officially on behalf of Foreign Service Officer David C. Rodearmel, the organization filed a lawsuit claiming that Hillary Clinton is constitutionally ineligible to serve as Secretary of State -- as they telegraphed last month that they would.

The basis of the lawsuit is that, in effect, any senator who was serving when a Cabinet secretary position received a raise (as the secretary of state did in January 2008) cannot then assume that position.

Under the "Emoluments" or "Ineligibility" clause of the U.S. Constitution, no member of Congress can be appointed to a civilian position within the U.S. government if the "emoluments" of the position, such as the salary or benefits paid to whoever occupies the office, increased during the term for which the Senator or Representative was elected.

In order to get around this, as presidents have done since the days of William Howard Taft, Congress decreased the salary of the secretary of state by $4700 in mid-December -- to the salary Rice was making when Clinton started her second Senate term. Judicial Watch argues that even though Clinton won't benefit from the pay raise Rice received, she nonetheless was there when it happened and thus is technically ineligible.

They furthermore argue that forcing Rodearmel to serve under her would be forcing him to break his Foreign Service oath, by which he promised to uphold the Constitution. Apparently, some habits die hard, and suing the Clintons is one of them.

This morning, Hillary Clinton attended a White House ceremony to watch Barack Obama sign his first bill into law: the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act. That act reverses a 2007 Supreme Court decision that narrowed the statute of limitations on filing pay discrimination suits.

Hillary Clinton was one of the initial co-sponsors of the Senate legislation (later blocked by Republicans) that sought to change this decision and, in one of her few official acts before being confirmed as Secretary of State, signed on as an original co-sponsor again this year. She appeared with Lilly Ledbetter to rally for the legislation, spoke about the act on the floor of the Senate, and proclaimed its importance during her speech at the Democratic National Convention. She's no doubt delighted at the bill's success. Also in attendance: Nancy Pelosi and Michelle Obama.

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On Tuesday, Politico's Glenn Thrush reported about a little tête-à-tête between Hillary Clinton and John Cornyn in the Capitol. Cornyn, you'll recall, had just prevented a unanimous consent vote on Hillary's nomination and Thrush, who saw but did not hear the discussion, characterized the exchange as "heated," which Cornyn denied.

Well, one of our eagle-eyed sources spotted the same discussion and was able to get within earshot just in time to hear Clinton warn Cornyn, "The Clintons don't forget." One day later, Cornyn's objections to Clinton's confirmation magically disappeared and the man who had set the roll call vote in motion voted in favor of confirming Clinton. Now let's see how she handles Hamid Karzai.

UPDATE: A spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee emailed Madam Secretary with this:

This story about what Sen. Clinton allegedly told Sen. Cornyn is false and it’s disappointing that the Senator’s office was not contacted before it was posted.  Senator Cornyn has made clear, including in an op-ed in the Austin American Statesman today, that this situation had nothing to do with Senator Clinton personally, and everything to do with his long record as an advocate for transparency in government. 

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Elizabeth Moore at Long Island's Newsday has a rather eloquent eulogy to Hillary Clinton's Senate career, with quotes of praise from some of Clinton's most vociferous former enemies. I have to say: Guys! She's only just getting started!

She was nothing short of phenomenal," says former Sen. Alfonse D'Amato, one of the first lady's chief tormentors during the 1990s as chairman of a Senate committee that held hearings on the Whitewater scandal.

"She was at first viewed as a celebrity dilettante," D'Amato says now. "By dint of her absolute total dedication, she made New Yorkers believers."

If you don't know why it's a big deal for D'Amato to call Clinton a phenomenal senator well in advance of an actual eulogy, you might want to hearken back to those aforementioned Whitewater hearings, in which D'Amato accused Clinton of being a pathological liar involved in Vince Foster's suicide. Oh, and lying under oath. D'Amato hopes you don't dig up those transcripts, though.

Moore recalls the worst slurs against Clinton, including the mean-spirited obsession with her hairstyles (we mostly just want to know if we could ever afford her colorist!), the infamous cookie-baking gaffe, the utter failure of Hillarycare, and the somewhat blind loyalty that allowed her to discard Occam's razor in L'affaire Lewinsky and blame the "vast right wing conspiracy" -- which, having been subjected to it for the past eight years, most people would agree is giving the right far more credit than is deserved. But Moore also notes how Hillary managed to turn it all around in time to make 18 millions cracks and ascend to the Secretary of State perch more popular than ever.

Clinton's coiffure found peace in the Senate, a chamber where she carved out a reputation as a collegial centrist who could pray over breakfast with men who'd voted to impeach her husband, vote to authorize an invasion of Iraq, and be counted on as the best-prepared person at any meeting. Here in New York, that "listening tour" presaged a tenure that would carry the motorcade to an estimated 4,600 events around the state's 62 counties, including 96 visits to Long Island - a schlepping record respectable even compared to her Senate colleague Charles Schumer.

Bloomberg reports the obvious this morning that Hillary will still face questions on Clinton Foundation donors in the weeks and months ahead. In summarizing the criticism and questioning she received from fellow senators during her confirmation hearing and the Senate vote yesterday, they got this response from Hillary's spokesman:

Asked for comment on the senators’ criticism, Clinton spokesman Philippe Reines responded by e-mail: "94-2." 

Here's Hillary being sworn in last night in her Senate office, with Bill looking on:

Photo courtesy of State Department

After days of wrangling, objections by Louisiana Sen. David Vitter, Texas Sen. John Cornyn and Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn-- and a day's delay to accommodate a full Senatorial roll call vote  -- the Senate just voted to confirm Hillary Clinton as secretary of state, 94-2. Those two nay votes came from Vitter and South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint -- but not from Cornyn, who was the one to insist on a roll call vote in the first place, or Coburn, both of whom voted in favor of Clinton.

Vitter, who famously moralized about needing to impeach Bill Clinton for his moral failings and then was caught patronizing prostitutes, couldn't even get his comrades-in-arms to support his anti-Clinton protest vote. All this delay came strictly so that Vitter, Cornyn, Coburn, and DeMint could thumb their noses at her. How statesman-like. In any event, here she goes!

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Although the Senate today voted to confirm a variety of other Cabinet nominees by unanimous consent -- including now-Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano -- Hillary Clinton was left figuratively (in addition to literally) out in the cold. Her unanimous consent vote was delayed by John Cornyn's machinations, so Harry Reid will be having a full Senate vote on the nomination tomorrow.

Glenn Thrush of Politico reports that Cornyn and Clinton had "a fairly heated (that is to say, intense but cordial) discussion" in the Capitol today, a characterization that Cornyn's staff disputes, but which sounds as right to us as it does to Thrush.

Glenn Thrush at Politico reports that some Republicans are planning to hold up Hillary Clinton's confirmation vote because of their desire for more timely Clinton Foundation disclosures. Texas Republican John Cornyn (the incoming head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee) and Oklahoma Republican Tom Coburn have both publicly expressed dissatisfaction with Hillary's answers at her Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing to questions about renegotiating the Memorandum of Understanding between the foundation and the Obama transition team. Those concerns, of course, were the reasons David Vitter gave for his vote against Clinton at the committee hearing.

Although neither Vitter, Cornyn, or Coburn will be able to filibuster Clinton's nomination, they can disrupt tomorrow's planned vote in the Senate. Majority Leader Harry Reid had scheduled it as a Unanimous Consent vote, which means that most senators need not be in attendance for the measure to pass and no one need vote individually.

However, if one senator in attendance objects, the majority leader is obliged to hold a full vote and record inviduals senators' votes -- and most of the Senate plans to be out and about for the Inauguration tomorrow. This means that the full vote (which Hillary is unlikely to lose) would occur, at the earliest, on Wednesday. And it will give guys like Vitter, Cornyn, and Coburn to register yet another vote against Bill Hillary Clinton.

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