Senate Showdown: Burris Determined To Take His Seat Tuesday, Maintains That He's A Senator

WASHINGTON — Roland Burris failed to capture President-elect Barack Obama's old Senate seat Tuesday in a wild piece of political theater, but the Democrats' opposition cracked when a key chairwoman said seating him was simply the legal thing to do. Democratic leaders, set to meet with Burris on Wednesday, were searching for a way to defuse the dispute before it further overshadows the 111th Congress.

Knowledgeable Senate officials of both parties widely predicted that the saga would end with Burris being seated. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

Seating Burris seemed more likely late Tuesday, when Sen. Dianne Feinstein rejected the reasoning that all of the chamber's Democrats, herself included, had cited in a letter last week _ that corruption charges against Burris' patron, Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, tainted his appointment.

"Does the governor have the power, under law, to make the appointment? And the answer is yes," said Feinstein, chairwoman of the Senate Rules Committee, which judges the credentials of senators.

Burris marched into the Capitol earlier Tuesday, declaring himself "the junior senator from the state of Illinois." But Secretary of the Senate Nancy Erickson rejected his certification, as he knew she would, saying it lacked Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White's signature and the state seal.

Late Tuesday, Feinstein urged the Senate to settle the matter.

"If you don't seat Mr. Burris, it has ramifications for gubernatorial appointments all over America," the California senator said. "Mr. Burris is a senior, experienced politician. He has been attorney general, he has been controller, and he is very well-respected. I am hopeful that this will be settled."

A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Earlier, Reid had said, "Mr. Burris is not in possession of the necessary credentials from the state of Illinois."

Burris, meanwhile, pivoted from his rejection at the Capitol to the Illinois Supreme Court, asking it to order White to certify his appointment.

Burris was expected to meet with Reid on Wednesday.

It would be his second appearance at the Capitol in as many days. His first included an escort by Capitol police officers to Erickson's third-floor office for what was described as a highly cordial, 21-minute meeting.

Burris, 71, then led a small mob of lawyers, consultants, police and reporters across the street in pouring rain, to a news conference which Burris aides said Reid had tacitly allowed.

Erickson, Burris reported, had advised him that "I would not be accepted, and I will not be seated, and I will not be permitted on the floor."

The former Illinois attorney general said he was "not seeking to have any type of confrontation" over taking the seat. In addition to his court filing late in the day in Illinois, Burris said he was considering a federal lawsuit to force Senate Democrats to seat him.

It was a distraction for majority Democrats eager to project an image of progress with Obama on an economic stimulus package estimated to cost as much as $800 billion.

Democrats and Obama have said that the corruption charges against Blagojevich would strip credibility from anyone he appointed to the seat.

Blagojevich denies federal accusations that he tried to sell the seat Obama has given up for the presidency.

In a written statement Tuesday, the governor said allegations against him shouldn't be held against Burris, whom he called a "good and decent man."

"The people of Illinois are entitled to be represented by two senators in the United States Senate," Blagojevich said.

An attorney for Burris, Timothy W. Wright III, said that "our credentials were rejected by the secretary of the Senate. We were not allowed to be placed in the record book. We were not allowed to proceed to the floor for purposes of taking oath. All of which we think was improperly done and is against the law of this land."

Some of Burris' supporters have bemoaned the fact that Democrats would stand in the way of the Senate gaining its only black member. Burris himself downplayed the issue of race, telling reporters: "I cannot control my supporters. I have never in my life, in all my years of being elected to office, thought anything about race."

"I'm presenting myself as the legally appointed senator from the state of Illinois. It is my hope and prayer that they recognize that the appointment is legal," he said on CBS' "The Early Show."

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus said Tuesday that Burris should be seated.

"A lot of people want to talk about race or the governor and his problems, but the bottom line is you have a sitting governor who has certain legal rights and authorities and he's made an appointment," said Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md. "This is an issue that goes beyond race."

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Associated Press writer Ann Sanner contributed to this report.

Comments

[averyotto]

Democrats are not off the hot seat, when it comes to corruption. In order to really make change, liberals have to embrace standards of excellence in both character and actions. Not so easy, when the poison of corruption is so rampant and trickery paves the political highways. Where do we begin with cleaning up our act? Usually true change comes from within. To read more visit: http://www.transitionchoices.com/cgi-bin/ViewBlogEntry.pl?id=18

[3fingerbrown]

In the end, the Senate will have to seat him.

The Illinois secretary of state has no legal right to refuse to sign the certification. Burris will fight this to the supreme court and he'll win. Once that happens, the Senate will have no recourse but to seat him. This will all take months. Just seat him now and spare the country this sideshow at a time when we can least afford the distraction.

Blago is a crook and a crumbum, and Burris is a pathetic old man who sees this appointment as his last chance to play the big room. The governor is not an honorable man, and Burris is putting ego above honor. But both men have the law on their side in this fight. Feinstein is right. The Illinois secretary of state acted illegally; a long, drawn-out fight would be a terrible distraction; and not seating Burris creates a dangerous precedent for other gubernatorial appointments facing a hostile Congress.

[cornflower]

Amen. Stop this nonsensical drama. Get on with the important stuff. Why would Dems shoot themselves in the foot now? Kudos for Dianne Feinstein for having the guts to point out that it should stop.

[K-Dog76]

The thing is, its too late, the Dems shot themselves in the foot, they flipped. They said they wouldn't seat any candidate selected by Blago, now they have.

It is the right thing to do, but it shows how weak they are. They should have known better in the first place when all 50 of them wrote the letter to Blago.

Not good leadership and pretty big embarrassment

[clancy11]

Feinstein and Reid should retire........they have overstayed their visit.

[smoovejef]

Blagojevich has the legal authority to appoint a replacement for the Senate seat. The Feds were afraid he would sell the seat. He didn't. Roland Burris is qualified for the position he was appointed to, legally. Seat him, it's the law. Or stand to have governor's appointments to federal offices questioned or denied at every turn. Bad precedent to set.

Seat the man already, and get on with the nation's business. Enough of this BS.

[SonnyBono]

Dianne Feinstein is a DINO - her income when matched with her husband is among the highest of any in the US Senate. Don't forget she was one of the votes along with Chuck Shumer who allowed Mulksey to become Attorney General - whose sole qualifications seemed to be "I am not Alberto Gonzales". Feinstein runs as a Democrat in California because it is damn hard work to get elected as a Republican unless your name is Arnold and enough of the electorate are dumb enough to think that the character you play on the movies is the same as having character.

President elect Obama should draw the line with Feinstein - if she doesn't get on board, cut her off at the knees - he is certainly more popular in California than she is - in spite of what she may think.

[Badger84]

If this is payback for not consulting with her on the CIA pick, it is irresponsible. She is Joe Lieberman with a wig.

[K-Dog76]

Badger,

Im no fan of Feinstein. The fact is she's right though. The situation creates a Constitutional paradox.

I would like to say Burris has no right to be there. I have done so in the past, but the fact is Blago hasn't been charged with any crimes yet so the precedent is that the Senate can reject anyone it doesn't like. Thats the rub

[Tags]

Sure, Burris should be the next senator from Illinois.

And Bernie Madoff should be able to choose the next senator from New York.

[Ozy]

Fienstein is a corporate Democrat! If this is the kind of Change we are in store for It will be a short 4 years!

All you corporate and self described centerist dems are going to be history if we can get our contry back from you and the Jack-booted republicans! No Millionare Congressman or woman can represent the best interests of the labor class Americans. Common sense dopes! They are going to "@#$! you in the drive through!"

Shame on all of you!!!

[ddanimal]

He paid top dollar, fair and square!

[mlaiuppa]

And has soon as his certification has Mr. White's signature and the state seal....he will be seated.

[carnelld]

True. The only thing now is how it will play out. Will White and Madigan go to court to fight Burress's suit? or have the Democratic powers succintly directed him to sign off on the papers. I am sure he will have some high minded comments about integrity when he does. Secretary of State White has broken a rule I always lived by.....Don't get in the middle of other peoples' mess. You will be the one in the end looking bad.

[southwindow]

Obama sure got on the wrong side of Feinstein. I wonder why he felt the need to reach out to every member of congress and then rile up such a senior member of the senate in his own party. What a silly battle to pick, I guess forgetting to tell her about the appointment of one her rivals must have been an oversight. Just like the whole Rick Warren thing, and forgetting consider the LGBT communities objections. There is a disturbing pattern emerging.

[SiberianRat]

Make sure to read as far into this as you can.

[Miande]

Dianne Feinstein needs to up the dosage of her medicine for menopause and shut TFU.

[doctorkeys]

Burris has been legally appointed by a legally elected governor. We are dealing with something called rule of law. That means we abide by law as it is written, not try to wiggle around it when it is inconvenient or embarrassing. The only appropriate and legal remedy would have been quick impeachment by the Illinois House and a quick trial and conviction in the Illinois Senate. Clearly there is not enough evidence against Blagojevich to have done that.

Patrick Fitzgerald can't even bring an indictment yet, and he's the man with the phone tap. He is trying the case in the media, selectively releasing juicy snippets and withholding others.

What is Harry Reid's remedy for the situation? To disenfranchise the State of Illinois from Federal representation in the Senate. The Democratz should change their name to the Autocrats. They don't want a special election because they are afraid of the will of the people. Blagojevich is not going to resign, and he should not if he truly believes he is innocent. Barris should be seated. Harry Reid should give Illinois two votes in the Senate as they are legally allowed under the U.S, Constitution.

[ddanimal]

Patrick Fitz released substantive information about B-vitch because he wanted to prevent him from selling the senate seat. Fitz saw what was going on, and acted appropriately to prevent a serious crime that is very difficult to undo.

Fitz did the right thing. Burris should not be seated.

[JDJase]

Substantive information but not the tapes. For all we know the conversations on those tapes could really just be something that could possibly imply the allegations if one stretches their mind quite well. We don't know.

It's a slippery slope to not seat a senator just because of the governor who appointed him. Future appointments should be very interesting...

[Kiku]

I don't think the US Senate should run around Illinois law, if he doesn't have the credentials to be the appointed Senator from Illinois, he should not be seated. Personally, this smacks of a game the Dems have to play, now that Blago is so tainted, they are forcing the courts to decide this so that Dem will be associated with this mess. Then, the Dems will get what they want, another Dem in office.

[SuburbanMalcontent]

Everybody seems to be missing the point on this whole fiasco: There's no way Burris will win actually win an election with the voters of Illinois after being connected to Blago the baffoon. So I say just seat him. He'll have no power since he's the lowest on the totem pole and he'll be gone in a few years anyway. Let's just hope somebody who's qualified runs against him in the primary.