John Kerry, who is worth an estimated $198.65 million, will donate $9,175 because of the so-called sequestration.
"A day after Obama and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said they'd return 5 percent of their paycheck to the Treasury, Secretary of State John Kerry followed in somewhat similar fashion," the Huffington Post reports.
"State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland says Kerry, however, will give his 5 percent to a charity for department employees. She says he already makes significant charitable donations. Kerry makes $183,500 this year. His donation is worth $9,175."
Based on Senate disclosure forms, Roll Call estimated Kerry to be worth $198.65 million in 2011. Roll Call reported:
Kerry has been a mainstay on Roll Call's list of the wealthiest in Congress for more than 15 years, due in large part to the assets of his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, the widow of the late Sen. H. John Heinz III (R-Pa.) of the Heinz ketchup fortune.
Though Kerry's reported minimum net worth of $198.65 million is more than $100 million short of what he'd need to nab the top spot, the actual value of his fortune is likely far more than what is reported each year.
The Senate's financial disclosure form has separate categories for assets held jointly by a couple and those held only by a lawmaker's spouse. While a sizable joint asset has to be reported within a standard range - $5 million to $25 million or $25 million to $50 million, for example - that of a spouse is only recorded as having a minimum value in excess of $1 million.
Given that the Senator listed more than 100 assets held by Teresa Heinz Kerry that exceeded $1 million, it is likely that the couple's fortune is far more.
Though Kerry reports dozens of liabilities, most are associated with various Heinz family trusts. Only two are personal, one of which is a line of credit of at least $50,000 secured by the Kerrys' personal residence in Providence, R.I.
It isn't clear what charity Kerry will donate the $9,175 he's setting aside for sequester.
Kerry was the richest senator before becoming the richest cabinet member.
In a blog post on the New York Times website, columnist Paul Krugman says no to serving as treasury secretary. Which is clarifying, even though he was never offered the job anyway.
The idea of former Republican Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska succeeding Leon Panetta at the Pentagon is, as the fictional king of Siam once put it, a puzzlement. Friends of Israel are up in arms at the prospect, but Thomas L. Friedman of the New York Times thinks he's just the sort of contrarian element the Obama White House requires. Meanwhile, former Rep. Barney Frank still resents Hagel's bigoted opposition to a gay diplomatic appointee. So the fight is on.
In the three weeks since Chuck Hagel’s name emerged as President Barack Obama’s likely choice as the next secretary of defense, there's been a lively, if lopsided, debate about his qualifications for the job. The debate’s been lopsided because the arguments for Hagel have been so startlingly weak.
In an odd column in Wednesday's New York Times, Tom Friedman praises Chuck Hagel. Friedman doesn't actually praise anything Hagel has ever said or done. He never quotes Hagel nor cites any of Hagel's votes. Indeed, Friedman acknowledges Hagel is "out of the mainstream" on national security issues ranging from Iran to Hamas to the Pentagon budget.
Tom Cotton, the war veteran and congressman elect from Arkansas's Fourth Congressional District, explained on Fox News that Chuck Hagel is the wrong man for the defense secretary job:
Tom Cotton, the congressman-elect from Arkansas's Fourth Congressional District, writes in today's Wall Street Journal that President Barack Obamam should not pick Chuck Hagel to be the next secretary of defense:
Iranian state press, Press TV, is praising President Barack Obama's likely defense nominee as "anti-Israel," according to a piece published on the propaganda outlet's website. The piece is titled, "Obama expected to nominate anti-Israel Hagel as secretary of defense."
The piece begins, "US President Barack Obama is expected to nominate former Senator Chuck Hagel, an outspoken critic of Israel, as the next Pentagon chief."
THE WEEKLY STANDARD has obtained a fact sheet circulating widely on Capitol Hill. It details the record on a number of issues of former GOP senator Chuck Hagel, a leading candidate to be nominated by President Obama as the next secretary of defense:
In response to reports that Barack Obama is likely to choose Chuck Hagel to be the next secretary of defense, a top Republican Senate aide emails, "Send us Hagel and we will make sure every American knows he is an anti-Semite."
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