Constitutional showdown looms over Ill. Senate seat
Posted: 05:51 PM ET
By Bill Mears
CNN Supreme Court Producer
WASHINGTON (CNN) — The United States Senate is considered the most exclusive legislative body in the country, and members of its majority say they will not accept Roland Burris — tapped by embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to fill President-elect Barack Obama’s vacant seat — into their own.
Conflicting passages in the U.S. Constitution complicate a legal and political fight, with the Supreme Court as the possible final word. A 1969 high court ruling could ultimately decide who fills the seat recently vacated by the president-elect.
Democrats in the Senate have twice this week said they have the authority to refuse to accept “anyone appointed by Gov. Blagojevich” to fill the seat once held by Obama.