World

Blagojevich to Appoint Roland Burris to Replace Obama

by 158 | December 30, 2008 at 09:55 am

252 views | 34 Recommendations | 4 comments

Roland W. Burris would be the fourth black senator, and would be the only current African

American senator. He has served as comptroller and attorney general of Illinois. He is

married with two adult children. He is 71years old and graduated from Southern

Illinois University.

Governor Blagojevich has been accused of soliciting money to appoint someone to replace

president elect Obama in the senate. Senate leader Reid of Nevada has said he would block

anyone appointed by Blagojevich from taking a seat in the senate. Many politicians have said

that Gov. Blagojevich should not be allowed to appoint a replacement and that he should be

impeached.

Burris is serving as CEO of Burris & Lebed Consulting, LLC, a consulting service for

public relations and government,politics and corporate strategies. He is also a lawyer.

Illinois governor Blagojevich is scheduled to hold a news conference at 3:00 pm today

to announce this appointment. MSNBC is also reporting that senate leader Harry Reid

will hold a news conference to announce that he will not accept Burris as a senator, because

he is appointed by Blagojevich.

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is expected Tuesday to name former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris to the U.S. Senate, CNN affiliates the Chicago Tribune and WLS-TV reported, citing sources familiar with the decision.

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich has ignored calls to resign after his arrest on federal corruption charges.

Burris' appointment would fill President-elect Barack Obama's former Senate seat. Blagojevich is to announce his choice at a news conference at 3 p.m. ET.

Burris, 71, is African-American. According to the newspaper, he expressed interest in the Senate seat shortly after the November 4 election.

The news comes as Democratic leaders in the Senate warned that they would reject any Senate pick made by Blagojevich, who faces criminal charges.

The governor was arrested this month on federal corruption charges and has since ignored

calls to resign.

This could end up in the US Supreme Court. Illinois law gives the governor the power to

appoint a replacement. The constitution says only a senator must be a resident of the state

and 30 years old.

But article one says, Section 5: "Each House shall be the judge of the elections, returns
and qualifications of its own members."

Governor Blagoyevich just made the appointment.
The Illinois secretary of state Jesse White said he will not certify the appointment.
Chicago congressman Bobby Rush spoke at the news conference and brought up the race
issue, that if Burris is not seated there will be no black senators.