Blagojevich Appointment Puts Senate Democrats in a Bind

The surprise appointment of Roland Burris by scandal-plagued Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich forces Senate Democrats into a politically uncomfortable position. If they refuse to seat the 71 year-old and relatively well respected African-American, they run the risk of angering the black community which voted in overwhelming numbers for President-elect Barack Obama, and would he denied a sitting black Senator. If they seat Burris, they will accept the appointment of a political pariah in Blagojevich, whom Senate Democrats have publicly called on to resign and forgo exercising his appointment power. Worse still, there may be nothing Senate Democrats can do about it.

Pejman Yousefzadeh points out that, contrary to popular belief, the Senate may not have the Constitutional authority to refuse Burris his seat. The Supreme Court has ruled on this issue before, and determined that the Senate's power to reject members elected or otherwise designated Senators extends only to the qualifications for Senators spelled out in the Constitution. In other words, as long as Blagojevich appoints a 30 year-old who has been a citizen of the United States for at least nine years and is a resident of Illinois at the time of his appointment, the Senate has to seat him. If Burris were to misbehave once in office, then the Senate can expel him. But it must initially accept his appointment. That means Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who has already declared Burris, "unacceptable," may have to eat his words.

Senate Democrats are surely furious at Blagojevich for his appointment of Burris, but they really have no one to blame for their predicament but themselves. Every Democratic member of the Senate signed a letter to Blagojevich calling on him to step down so that Lieutenant Governor Pat Quinn could make an appointment to the Senate seat. They chose that course of action over supporting a special election in Illinois out of fear that a Republican might prevail in the scandal-charged atmosphere in which the public would vote. By trying to protect their majority in the Senate, instead of trusting the people of Illinois, Democrats have placed themselves in the political vise. The only way for this to be resolved is for President-elect Barack Obama to come out and call for a special election himself. As president, he will be the national leader of the Democratic Party. If he calls for a special election, it will happen. Obama alone may be able to rescue Senate Democrats from themselves. His early statement on the appointment, however, keeps the ball squarely in the Senate's court.