NS is trying to create yet another controversy where none exists.
A July 21 article by Eric Scheiner reported that “The Justice Department is not saying whether Solicitor General Elena Kagan has been taking the full federal salary of solicitor general since she ‘ceased’ performing the full responsibilities of that position more than two months ago.” This was followed on Aug. 5 with Fred Lucas asserting that “Neither the White House nor the Justice Department are saying whether Elena Kagan has been collecting her full government salary since she ‘ceased’ performing her full duties as solicitor general after May 10 when President Barack Obama nominated her to serve on the Supreme Court.”
What’s missing from both of these articles is any historical examination of the subject. For instance, both Sam Alito and John Roberts were on the government payroll as judges when they were nominated to the Supreme Court, and both presumably had to cease performing their full duties as a result of their nomination. Yet neither Scheiner nor Lucas tells us whether their pay was reduced during that time, which they seem to demand Kagan’s pay to be.
Nobody begrudged Alito and Roberts their full pay during the nomination process. Why does CNS want Kagan to be docked when there’s no established historical precedent?