Senate cuts SOS salary for clinton

WASHINGTON, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- The U.S. Senate Wednesday cut the salary for secretary of state so Hillary Clinton may take the Cabinet post.

The post's salary had to be reduced to its 2007 level because the U.S. Constitution bars federal lawmakers from being named to any office whose pay was raised during his or her term, Politico reported. Clinton was in the Senate when the salary for secretary of state was raised from $186,600 to $191,300, the newspaper said.

Clinton, the junior senator from New York, has been picked by President-elect Barack Obama for the position.

The strategy of rescinding the raise was used in 1973 so Sen. William Saxbe, R-Ohio, could become attorney general in the Nixon administration, The Boston Globe reported.