Senate ponders action on Burris

January 5, 2009 at 12:00a.m.

CHICAGO (AP) — Just days before a high-stakes showdown in the nation’s capital, the man selected to take President-elect Barack Obama’s vacated U.S. Senate seat sought spiritual and political support Sunday at a South Side Chicago church.

Warm words of support and prayers for Roland Burris contrasted with the frigid reactions from Senate leaders, many of whom say his appointment by embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is so badly stained that Burris shouldn’t be seated when the new Congress convenes this week.

Burris took the stage at New Covenant Church on Sunday evening to a crescendo of drums, organ music and applause from hundreds of supporters, including black leaders and ministers.

“The appointment is legal,” he said, thanking those gathered at the prayer service. “That is all there is. I don’t know what all the confusion is about.”

Before the service, Burris supporter U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush and about 60 ministers condemned Senate Democratic leaders for rejecting Burris.

Rush, a Chicago Democrat, called the Senate “the last bastion of plantation politics.”

The Senate’s top two Democrats defended their right to deny a seat to Burris while refusing to rule out a deal as Congress and its new members begin work this week.

Democrats say Burris’ appointment is tainted because it was made by Blagojevich, who is accused by federal authorities of offering to sell the vacancy to the highest bidder. Burris, a former state attorney general, says the appointment is legal and the governor had the authority to do it. He has threatened to sue Senate Democrats if they refuse to swear him in as the chamber’s only black member.

“Anything can happen,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. But he described the chances of Burris’ joining the Senate as “very difficult.”

The second-ranking Democrat, Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, acknowledged that his governor has the state constitutional authority to fill the vacancy. “The Senate of the United States has the U.S. constitutional responsibility to decide if Mr. Burris was chosen in a proper manner and that is what we’re going to do,” Durbin said.

To Reid, “there’s clearly legal authority for us to do whatever we want to. This goes back for generations.” He declared his concern about “a cloud over anyone that comes from the state of Illinois being appointed by Blagojevich.”

Reid said he expected to meet with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky this evening in hopes “we can solve this issue on a bipartisan basis.” Reid added, “I’m on old trial lawyer. There’s always room to negotiate.”

Such deal making might also involve Minnesota’s drawn-out Senate race, which has Democrat Al Franken ahead by 225 votes as a statewide recount drew to a close. The state Canvassing Board was to reconvene Monday to declare which candidate received the most overall votes in the election. Senate Republican leaders have said the chamber should not seat Franken until all legal matters are settled, even if that drags on for months.

McConnell said Illinois should hold a special election to determine Obama’s replacement.

Also Sunday, Reid denied a published report he told Blagojevich in early December that he opposed the appointments of Democratic Reps. Jesse Jackson Jr. and Danny Davis to the Senate seat out of fear they would lose the seat to a Republican in the 2010 general election.