Senate Vows Not To Seat Blagojevich Pick

Senate Democrats on Tuesday vowed not to seat embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's pick to fill the vacancy left by President-elect Barack Obama, prompting a House Democrat to object to the nation's only prospective black senator being denied a seat.

Rep. Bobby Rush of Illinois told reporters that Senate Democrats should not "hang and lynch the appointee as you try to castigate the appointer."

Blagojevich appointed former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris, who is black, to the post on Tuesday. Although Burris, 71, is not involved in the governor's legal problems — Blagojevich is accused of trying to sell the appointment — Senate Democrats said neither Burris nor any other Blagojevich choice would be seated.

"This is not about Mr. Burris; it is about the integrity of a governor accused of attempting to sell this United States Senate seat," Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and his deputy, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said in a joint statement.

Today, experts are questioning whether Congress has the legal authority to block Burris from serving. Many are saying the issue will end up in court.

Today's New York Times reports that the Senate has rarely denied seats to candidates, and even then, only to those whose election outcome was in doubt or who were accused of corruption. But neither of those applies to Burris.

And Blagojevich still has the sole power to make the appointment as long as he has not been removed from office.

There’s also some U.S. Supreme Court precedent on Burris' side. The court found that the House could not refuse to seat Adam Clayton Powell, who had been accused of financial impropriety, if he met the constitutionally determined qualifications for age, citizenship and residency.