Constitutional showdown looms over Ill. Senate seat
Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2012 9:50 amConstitutional 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.
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.