U.S. court won’t hear lawsuit alleging Clinton SOS appointment was illegal
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court will not hear arguments that Hillary Rodham Clinton is ineligible to be secretary of state.
The high court on Monday refused to hear an appeal by Judicial Watch, a conservative watchdog group.
The U.S. Constitution 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. Clinton was serving as New York senator when the secretary of state’s salary was raised to its current level of $191,300.
Congress lowered the salary so that Clinton could take the position.
Judicial Watch says the congressional fix does not change the fact that Clinton’s appointment was illegal.
High court turns down No Child Left Behind case; appeals court split 8-8
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has turned away a challenge by school districts and teacher unions to the federal No Child Left Behind law.
The court said without comment Monday that it will not step into a lawsuit that questioned whether public schools have to comply with requirements of the law if the federal government doesn’t pay for them.
A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit and a federal appeals court split 8-8, leaving the judge’s ruling in place.
The No Child Left Behind Act became law in 2002. It requires tests on subjects including math and reading in grades three through eight, and once in high school. Schools that miss testing benchmarks face increasingly stiff sanctions, including the potential loss of federal money.
President Barack Obama is proposing major changes to the law. Obama already has markedly increased federal money for public schools.
The case is School District of Pontiac, Mich. v. Duncan, 09-852.
