CQ TODAY PRINT EDITION
– CONGRESSIONAL AFFAIRS
Jan. 12, 2009 – 9:17 p.m.
Democrats Hope to End Distraction by Seating Burris as Obama’s Replacement
By Catharine Richert, CQ Staff
The decision to seat Roland W. Burris in the Senate as early as Jan. 15 represents an about-face by the Democratic leadership, but it helps the party move on from a controversy that threatened to distract the chamber for months from the new administration’s priorities.
A week after turning Burris away from the Capitol for not having the required signatures on his certification, Majority Leader Harry Reid , D-Nev., and Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin , D-Ill., issued a statement saying they planned to seat Burris because the secretary of the Senate found that Burris’ newly filed papers complied with the chamber’s rules.
“I congratulated him. He was stunned,” said Durbin, who has known Burris for years.
Burris, a former Illinois attorney general, would take the seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama . Republicans have said they will not object to Burris’ seating.
From Resistance to Acceptance
Burris was appointed late last month by Democratic Illinois Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich , a decision that was immediately lambasted by Senate Democrats because Blagojevich was arrested last month on charges that he sought to profit from his power to appoint Obama’s successor.
Burris, who has been referring to himself as the state’s junior senator, only alluded to the Blagojevich controversy in an afternoon news conference and stressed his own passion to serve.
“This made me more humble,” Burris said. “It made me be prepared to work harder to serve the people of my state.”
Durbin acknowledged that the Burris saga was a rocky start for Democrats as they prepare for a new administration.
“It has been awkward and painful and difficult, which is exactly what Rod Blagojevich wanted,” he said. “He wanted to leave office with a trail of corruption, confrontation and chaos.”
Reid and Durbin had previously said Burris’ appointment was tainted because it was made by Blagojevich, who faces an impeachment trial, and refused to seat him as a result. That message changed slightly last week, after the duo met with Burris.
After some leading Democrats began to break ranks with Reid, he and Durbin laid out a path for Burris’ seating: He would have to testify at Blagojevich’s impeachment hearings, and he would have to get the signature of his state’s secretary of State, Jesse White, as required by Senate rules.
Although White refused to sign the certification because of concerns about Blagojevich, on Friday night he signed a document saying that an Illinois Supreme Court ruling that his signature was not necessary on the appointment was correct.
By Monday, the secretary of the Senate deemed Burris’ new papers legitimate.
While that second signature might have been all Burris needed, Senate aides say leaders had come under mounting pressure from senators to move beyond the controversy.
Rank-and-file members publicly and privately pressured Reid to seat Burris. Dianne Feinstein , D-Calif., said refusing to seat Burris would not only look bad to the African-American community but also threaten future gubernatorial appointments. Burris will become the chamber’s only black member.
Other members quietly told the leadership that Burris was proving to be an unwelcome distraction for the incoming administration.
“It was the consensus feeling in the caucus meeting that it had gone on too long,” said one Democratic aide, of a last-minute meeting over the weekend where Burris’ latest set of documents were discussed.
It seems legal pressures also played into the sea change. If the Senate denied Burris a second time, he had threatened to take the issue to federal court.
“They could not stand up against the law,” said Rep. Maxine Waters , D-Calif., a longtime leader of the Congressional Black Caucus and senior member of the House Judiciary Committee. “Burris would have won in the courts.”
Burris Brings Supermajority Closer
There is one immediate benefit to admitting Burris to the Senate; Reid is now one step closer to having a 60-vote supermajority, including the two independents who caucus with the Democrats. That could top out at 59 members if Democrat Al Franken is seated as the new senator from Minnesota.
Franken was deemed the winner of a narrow election against incumbent Republican Sen. Norm Coleman by the state canvassing board last week, but Franken also lacks a key signature on his credentials.
That belongs to Gov. Tim Pawlenty , a Republican who says that state law requires him to defer until after “a court of proper jurisdiction has finally determined the contest.”
Burris, 71, did not figure prominently in the earlier speculation about a successor to Obama, although he has a long record in Illinois politics and was the first African-American elected statewide.
He served as state comptroller from 1979 to 1991 and as Illinois attorney general from 1991 to 1995. He was thwarted in numerous bids for higher office.
Obama offered Burris his congratulations late Monday.
“As the president-elect has said repeatedly, he knows Roland Burris and has high regard for him. He looks forward to working with Sen. Burris and the rest of the United States Senate to rebuild our economy and meet the great challenges of our time,” said Obama-Biden transition communications director Dan Pfeiffer.
Bart Jansen, Alan K. Ota and Greg Giroux contributed to this story.
Comments
What a bunch of junior high school drama. These people all need to be on medication.
My congratulations to Senator Burris. We can all take pride in the Senator's lifetime of accomplishment and to his ascension to the Senate as the capstone of his brilliant career. This is precisely what makes America great. Robert Chapman Lansing, NY
The seating of Barris is not a victory for Governor Blagojevich nor for Burris himself but for the Constitution of our country which does not contain the words "tainted appointment". Meanwhile all the Democratic Senators and Mr. Obama still have plenty of egg on their faces.
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