More than 41,000 people are asking Congress to stop paying President Barack Obama’s salary while he campaigns for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
“We the People demand that Congress withhold President Obama’s salary, pension, travel expenses, etc. for any time he spends actively campaigning for Hillary Clinton between now and the election in November,” the petition on conservative petition site StandUnited says.
Obama plans to devote one or two days each week in October to campaign for Hillary, an unnamed clinton advisor told Bloomberg News.
“When a lame duck President reaches his last few months in office he often endorses a candidate from his party to secede him,” the petition says “Rarely however, does that same lame duck President spend weeks or even months prior to the November election actively campaigning for his successor.”
The petition notes that a president’s salary is about $400,000 a year, and that Air Force One costs $180,000 for every hour of flight. The president also has an expense account of $50,000 for costs “resulting from the discharge of his official duties.”
As “sole authority of Federal revenue,” Congress could dock a president’s pay, the petition argues. However, in order to withhold the president’s salary Congress would have to address a section of the US Constitution which says a president’s compensation “shall neither be increased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected.”
(via: Daily Caller)
