The Blagojevich-Burris Appointment Nuts and Bolts

For those of us who are interested in senate rules and procedures, the scenario of the senate Democrats refusing to seat Burris will be interesting to watch.

RedState has the particulars:

According to a Senate staffer familiar with the process, it's likely that the Secretary of the Senate will receive Burris' credentials from Governor Blagojevich prior to the start of the new Congress (and the objection of the Illinois Secretary of State is reportedly irrelevant to the issuance of those credentials). On that first day, the roll call of Senators to be sworn in will then include Burris' name. Senator Reid - or someone else - will object to Burris taking the seat, and the Democratic majority will vote to refer the matter to the Senate Rules Committee for review. It is a foregone conclusion that the Rules Committee will recommend against seating Burris, and that recommendation will be affirmed by a Senate vote.

Assuming that nothing happens to resolve this dispute, Burris and the State of Illinois will presumably take Reid and the Senate to court - since the Supreme Court made clear in Powell v. McCormack that the Senate cannot reject a Senator on other than the straightforward question of eligibility for the office. And it is entirely conceivable that this fight could end with the court mandating that the Senate seat Burris.

And what would Harry Reid do then?

What I suspect he will do is nothing in that case, what else could he do? Privately he and others must be fuming? Doesn't Blagojevich know he's ruining the Democratic moment? Why won't he just go away quietly. Instead he continues to make news that links the words - Blagojevich, corruption, scandal, Obama, Reid, all up in the same news story.

Not that I'm complaining. It would be interesting if Blago had picked someone totally above board and with no possible quid pro quo to really put the senators in a bind. Oh wait, never mind.

The former Illinois Attorney General gave $4,500 to Blagojevich's campaign fund in the form of personal donations and donations from -- what appear to be -- him and his wife, according to Illinois State records. The most recent donation came on June 27, 2008, when the governor was knee-deep in charges of ethical misconduct.

Burris also attended high-end Blagojevich fundraisers on at least three separate occasions, according to a review of newspaper filings by the Huffington Post. Most recently, in July 2008, he was in a crowd of 1,000 at the Chicago's River East Art Center when Blagojevich -- beset by ethics scandals -- hosted one of six events to raise money for his campaign fund (which had suffered because of mounting legal bills).

In April 2006, Burris hosted a 3,000 person event in the main hall of Chicago's Field Museum. That event saw Blagojevich soliciting donations of $1,000 for "sponsors" $2,500 for "patrons," $5,000 for "benefactors" and $10,000 for "co-chairs," according to the invitation.

And remember, we still don't know everything about Blagojevich yet. That part has just started.

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