Reader comments
Senate Democrats expect to seat Burris

I am glad the Senate finally got off their high horse add realized that Burris is legit. I only hope that he does well. Especially since we have so many goof offs in public office who are tainted, wierd, or crooked.

I suspect that Senate lawyers who are more familiar with the Constitution and law informed them that if they refused to seat him they could expect the U.S. Supreme Court to rule against them.

The Constitution states "Each House shall be the judge of the elections, returns and qualifications of its own members,"

The Illinois Governor had the authority to make the appointment and chose to do so. The Senate refusing to seat him would be like refusing to seat a duly-elected Senator as provided by law.

The second part that pertains here is "Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two thirds, expel a member."

You cannot expel someone who has not been seated and the plain language makes it clear that Congress has the power to expel a duly elected or appointed Senator for disorderly conduct or violation of a rule.

There is nothing in the Constitution that grants Congress the power to refuse ot seat someone just because a) they don't like them, their color, sex, etc., or b) because they have been convicted of a crime which Burris hasn't.

So who's to be blamed for the fact that an Illinois governor who is caught bragging about his plans to cash in when appointing Senator Obama�s replacement will, when all is said and done, succeed in getting his chosen replacement seated in the United States Senate?

Actually, the ultimate blame rests on the framers of the US Constitution who, when it came to the US Senate, trusted politicians more than the people to decide who would serve there.

"THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES SHALL BE COMPOSED OF TWO SENATORS FROM EACH STATE, CHOSEN BY THE LEGISLATURE THEREOF, FOR SIX YEARS; AND EACH SENATOR SHALL HAVE ONE VOTE." Article I, Section 3.

The 17th Amendment, which required Senators to be elected by the people, could have solved this problem outright.
But this unfortunate reliance on politicians to select US Senators even made it into the 17th Amendment via the following sentence:

�WHEN [Senate Vacancies occur] THE EXECUTIVE AUTHORITY OF SUCH STATE SHALL ISSUE WRITS OF ELECTION TO FILL SUCH VACANCIES: PROVIDED, THAT THE LEGISLATURE OF ANY STATE MAY EMPOWER THE EXECUTIVE THEREOF TO MAKE TEMPORARY APPOINTMENTS UNTIL THE PEOPLE FILL THE VACANCIES BY ELECTION AS THE LEGISLATURE MAY DIRECT.�

Voila!