Senate leaders checking Burris’ new paperwork

MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS

CHICAGO — Senate Democratic leaders and their staff in Washington are reviewing newly submitted paperwork on behalf of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s Senate appointee, Roland Burris, and Sen. Dick Durbin said a resolution to the controversy could come before state lawmakers finish Blagojevich’s impeachment trial.

In the latest twist among Senate Democrats, Durbin told CBS’s “Face the Nation” that “point blank” the strategy was not to play a stall game and wait for Blagojevich to be removed from office so that Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn could name a senator. Blagojevich’s trial is expected to take weeks.

“To wait until Gov. Blagojevich is removed could be a matter of weeks,” the Illinois Democrat said. “I think Roland Burris’s future and fate will be decided before then.”

Senate Democrats had originally vowed to reject any appointment made by Blagojevich, who was arrested last month on federal corruption charges including allegedly trying to sell the Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama. Blagojevich has said he is innocent and went ahead to name Burris, a former Illinois attorney general, to the vacancy.

Burris was turned away from the Senate last week with Democrats there saying his paperwork wasn’t in order. After a midweek meeting with Burris, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D- Nevada, and his top deputy, Durbin, the leadership said Burris needed to get Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White’s signature on the document certifying Blagojevich’s appointment and Burris needed to address the Illinois House panel that eventually recommended Blagojevich’s impeachment.

As the Illinois House voted 114-1 on Friday to impeach Blagojevich, setting the stage for a Senate trial that would begin in earnest on Jan. 26, the Illinois Supreme Court rejected a request by Burris’s lawyers aimed at forcing White to sign the appointment papers.

The court unanimously said White had done all he was required to do and it was up to senators in Washington to determine if Burris met the criteria of a rule in place since 1884 that requires the signature of a governor and secretary of state to be seated.

Later Friday, Burris’ staff submitted new paperwork in an attempt to get around White’s refusal to sign any document with a Senate appointment from Blagojevich. That new paperwork is a document showing White’s office registered the appointment, accompanied with another piece of paper, containing White’s signature, authenticating the registration document.

In Chicago, Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, who initially called lawmakers into session after Blagojevich’s arrest to consider legislation for a special election to fill the Obama vacancy, defended failing to advance such a bill. Madigan said Blagojevich couldn’t be trusted to sign it and instead would have vetoed the bill and made his Senate appointment before lawmakers could override the veto.