Senate Dems May Try To Seat Franken

UPDATE: Coleman's Senate office has been ordered closed, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports:

With the recount battle still underway, the doors to Norm Coleman's Senate offices were locked this morning at the direction of Senate rules committee officials who declared his term expired.

"They can't carry on Senate business," said Howard Gantman, staff director for the Senate Rules and Administration Committee.

Coleman, in a statement issued at mid-day, said "without question this is a unique situation in the history of the Senate, and specifics are still being determined as to the future of the Senate office."

CQ reports Senate Democrats may attempt to seat Al Franken as Minnesota's new Senator Tuesday, despite the objections of Sen. Norm Coleman and other Republicans.

Senate Republicans are gearing up to block any attempt to seat the Democrat until Coleman's continuing legal challenges are resolved. That could spark the first filibuster of the 111th Congress.

Jim Manley, the spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid , D-Nev., said Monday that there "likely will be an attempt to seat [Franken] this week."

A senior Democratic aide confirmed that Senate Democrats hoped to swear Franken in Tuesday, along with the rest of the freshman senators.

New York Sen. Charles Schumer seemed to endorse this move Sunday, saying the race was settled and that Franken had won the election.

"While there are still possible legal issues that will run their course, there is no longer any doubt who will be the next Senator from Minnesota," Schumer said. "With the Senate set to begin meeting on Tuesday to address the important issues facing the nation, it is crucial that Minnesota's seat not remain empty, and I hope this process will resolve itself as soon as possible."

Senate Republican leaders have said the chamber shouldn't seat Franken until all legal matters are settled, which could take months.

On Monday, the Minnesota Supreme Court rejected Coleman's request to count an additional 654 rejected absentee ballots.

Comments

[Desuka]

I want Franken to win but pending the result of the court battle I think it would be unwise to seat him. However if the Minnesota Secretary of State certifies the election results before the courts judgement is handed down then i would see no harm in seating him

[Janskats]

Sit on the floor and pound your little heels, Normie! Before the recount (state-mandated by the close vote) you said Al was a bad sport for not backing out of the recount and then taking uncounted ballots to court, as well! Now the shoe is on the other foot and you're somehow "justified" in doing the lawsuit thing? What a case of arrested developmen­t..but never fear..pret­ty soon you'll just plain be arrested! When they put you in an orange suit and toss you in the clink, you won't have to worry about Senate seats..jus­t bending over in the shower! Go Al!!

[milo h minderbinder]

Just found this. Looks like there is precedent for seating a senator provisionally while the election result is being contested, it has happened at least twice with Republican Representative Vern Buchanan in 2007 and Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu in 1997.

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/12/cornyn_indicates_senate_gop_wi.php

[MontereyDean]

Those Republicans ... always putting country first. Gotta love 'em.

[TomTheAlmostUgly]

Okay, I'm confused. In 2000, when Florida Secretary of State Kathryn Harris certified the election for Bush, Republicans told Democrats, "It's now official: Our guy won in this state. If you guys go to court, you're just proving yourself to be whiny losers." So what's changed between Florida 2000 and Minnesota 2008? Is it that Florida gets more tropical storms, and/or Minnesota gets more blizzards? Was it that Al Gore sucked as a comedian, whereas Al Franken is funny?

Could it be that the Republicans think the rules should apply only if their guy is winning? Nah, that can't be the real explanation. Obviously, I'm overlooking something.

[milo h minderbinder]

"So what's changed between Florida 2000 and Minnesota 2008?"

In florida they didn't count all the votes, there was no full recount.

[MontereyDean]

Though I'm not a Franken fan, I'm for anything that prevents more Republican Pod People from infesting our government.

[koulflo]

If Franken is seated, Dems will also seat Burris.
see
http://koulflo.wordpress.com/2009/01/05/why-harry-reid-will-backtrack-on-seating-burris/

[milo h minderbinder]

I don't buy that logic at all.

They are separate cases and will be handled separately.

[DFL]

AL IS FOR THE REGULAR PEOPLE, COLEMAN IS ONLY FOR THE RICH AND BIG BUISNESS.

[Deparis]

So I hear. He's come to be known as Crook man, ...ehhh... Cold man.

[rollingdivision]

Stealing an election, plain and simple.

[milo h minderbinder]

You need to keep up with the news. Franken was declared the winner by the elections board. Coleman TRIED to steal it but didn't get away with it.

[bby328]

If rush Anypenny said it were ah stolen, there you go . . . plain and really simple

Norm won b u t t ends up a loser, nonetheless.

[janinei]

ha ha ha, don't care about being nice anymore, FU all, we put up with Bushie for 8 years, you all need to just go away, GAME OVER!

[Wiserone]

Does this mean now we have a Dem filibuster??

[Politisizer]

If you take away Coleman's senate seat he's not likely to get illegal $75,000 backhanders from people anymore.

Franken is literally taking the food from Norm's table!

[pegbo]

How will he finish paying for those long white teeth?

[Politisizer]

It's already sorted *wink wink* ... there's a donkey somewhere that can only suck it's food.

[Rockwell]

If Franken is certified by Minnesota then he must be seated. Just like Burris must be seated. Both obtained their seats within the constructs of the law.

In Franken's case especially, it would be a horrible precident to allow law suits to delay the seating of a Senator, congress person or any other elected office. Every sore loser in the land could stop the winner from taking office by piling on lawsuits. The republicans are being infants, as usual.

[milo h minderbinder]

"If Franken is certified by Minnesota then he must be seated."

Well yeah...but while the recount results are official now, he won't actually be certified for a while, at the earliest it would be seven days from today and longer if Coleman sues during that time, which he said he will do.

While it is a bummer to have Franken delayed by lawsuits, that's what is required by MN law. It's not "precedent", it's what the state requires. And in most cases a recount wouldn't take this long and lawsuits will be dismissed quickly, particularly if they are frivolous and would delay swearing in.

[Chavez08]

If Reid doesn't get that "Nuclear Option" ready, Reid should be removed from power immediately.

We should no longer tolerate the status-quo DLC games and Reid's bullshit excuses.

[raker]

Does anyone know what the deal is with the 654 uncounted absentee votes? Why aren't they being counted?

[Politisizer]

Those 654 ballots came from the '4' properly rejected piles but Coleman's camp want them moving into pile '5' because they are in Coleman leaning area's.

[raker]

Thanks. Every report I've read calls them "uncounted" but not "rejected.­" It sounds like Coleman's team previously agreed that these votes were properly rejected, but now that they need them they want them back. Why were these votes rejected in the first place? Are they unreadable? Are they completely hopeless?

[Doofus]

Chris Cillizza's Politics Blog -- The Fix
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2009/01/mn-senate_colemans_window_clos.html?wprss=thefix
MN-Senate: Coleman's Window Closing

The Minnesota state Supreme Court has turned down Sen. Norm Coleman's plea to include 654 rejected absentee ballots in the final vote count in his race against entertainer Al Franken, a major setback for the GOP incumbent who is seeking to make up a 225-vote deficit.

The Court -- in an opinion issued this afternoon and signed by Chief Justice Alan Page ... said that Coleman's attempt to include these rejected absentees did not meet the criteria for counting ballots laid out in a previous ruling, specifically that both sides had to agree for any additional ballots to be counted. ...

[GeorgeP922]

Al Franken better do a victory speech.

I like many others were flumoxed at the lack of direct media attention his race got.

Now that he's in it, we got to turn to Al.

He is a true progressive.

Would a republican ever drop hollywood money to be a barely paid political talk radio host?
Would a republican than leave that job to run for a possible senate seat 2 years away?

Thats what Al did, brought the American dream to the Senate.

[zoozey]

You are so right! Al Franken may have made his fortune as a comedian, but he is very serious about service to this country. He is a gifted, good man.

[Olofio]

Thats what Al did, brought the American dream to the Senate.

Uh, don't you mean "bought" the American dream to the Senate?

[zoozey]

....and, also.....A­l helped put together Air America at a time when we had no media speaking truth to Bush's power. It was the first, even before Olbermann, etc.