While there are a couple of states still looking at who their newest Senator will be , Illinois seems to be the one that is holding the most interest. Gov. Rod Blagojevich is going through a number of legal problems, and added to the discussion by appointing Roland W. Burris to the open Illinois seat. Originally, the state senate was looking at stripping the governor of making this decision, based upon an attempt at selling the appointment. The problem for them is that they didn’t do that. So it seems that the Governor had the power to act.
The US Senate has asked him not to make an appointment, but that didn’t seem to bother him. So now Senator Burris will be heading to Washington. Can the Senate stop him? Article I, Section 5, of the US Constitution covers the seating of a Senator. It looks like that without cause they can’t stop the appointment. But, there is the option of expelling Senate Burris if two/thirds vote to do so, after he is seated. That seems like a bad way to get the year off in the Senate, and the more unlikely with each day that passes ones they head back this week.
While the Senate is waiting on the Illinois Secretary of State signature, that probably won’t work for long. So it looks like we may have Senator Burris with us for while.
A founding partner with Bradshaw & Bryant, Mike Bryant has always fought to find justice for his clients—knowing that legal troubles, both personal injury and criminal, can be devastating for a family. Voted a Top 40 Personal Injury "Super Lawyer" multiple years, Mr. Bryant has also been voted one of the Top 100 Minnesota "Super Lawyers" four times.
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