Re: The 2020 Primary
Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2019 5:36 pm
On December 30, 2008, Governor Blagojevich announced that he was naming Burris to the seat. Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White registered the appointment in the official records of Illinois on December 31, 2008. However, White declined to sign the Senate's certification form.[22]
On January 5, 2009, Secretary of the United States Senate Nancy Erickson rejected Burris's certificate of appointment to the Senate as invalid. Erickson cited Senate Rule 2 as the reason for the rejection.[23] Because White had refused to sign the certificate, Erickson concluded in her findings that the certificate did not conform to Senate Rule 2.[23] Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Illinois's senior Senator Dick Durbin agreed with Erickson that the Senate rule required the secretary of state's signature.[24]
Reid initially said that the Senate would not seat Burris,[25] citing Article I, Section 5 of the United States Constitution, which states that "Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members." Reid and other senators had previously stated, before Burris was in contention, that they would use Article I authority against any appointment by Blagojevich.[26] The Senate also could have referred the appointment to the Senate Rules Committee, thus stalling it until Blagojevich's status was settled.[27] Some Democrats, including the chairwoman of the Senate Rules Committee, Dianne Feinstein, and the Congressional Black Caucus, spoke out in favor of Burris being seated.[28][29]
Burris appeared in Washington at the January Congressional swearing-in ceremony (January 6) to claim his seat, but was denied entry into the Senate chambers.[24] Burris and his lawyers insisted that Burris was "now the junior senator from the state of Illinois,"[30] although technically he was not a senator and could not be one until being administered the oath of office.[31]
On January 9, 2009, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled that the appointment only required the signature of the governor and the secretary of state's signature is not required to make the appointment valid. It also said Illinois is not obligated to use, and hence its Secretary of State is not required to sign, the Senate's "recommended" certification form.[22][32] The State Supreme Court noted that a different form was available: White had already registered the appointment in Illinois's official records, and Illinois law requires the Secretary of State to provide a certified copy, with signature and seal, of any of the state's official records to anyone willing to pay the fee. It suggested that Burris simply obtain a certified copy of the appointment registration.[22] In its Burris v. White ruling the State Supreme Court not only declared that the form of certificate contained in rule II of the Standing Rules of the United States Senate was, according to its own terms, only a recommended form but it further remarked that "no explanation has been given as to how any rule of the Senate, whether it be formal or merely a matter of tradition, could supersede the authority to fill vacancies conferred on the states by the federal constitution".[22] Following the ruling, White provided Burris with a certified copy of the appointment's registration, and Burris delivered that copy, bearing the State Seal, to the Secretary of the Senate.[33] On January 12, 2009, after the Secretary of the Senate announced that she and the Senate Parliamentarian deemed Burris's new credentials valid, Senate leaders decided to seat Burris.[34] Burris was sworn in by Vice President Dick Cheney on January 15, 2009.[35][36][37]
delgriffith wrote:ACORN being defunded is one of the worst things to happen in the past 10 years.
Robo-Chachi wrote:How the fuck are 72% of Democrats unfamiliar with Julian Castro?
San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro’s keynote speech Tuesday night at the Democratic National Convention might not generate the buzz of President Barack Obama’s 2004 keynote, but it still electrified the Charlotte crowd.
Castro, 37, the youngest mayor of the 50 largest cities in the nation, delivered these notable lines:
1. “First they called it ‘trickle-down.’ Then ‘supply-side.’ Now it’s ‘Romney-Ryan.’ Or is it ‘Ryan-Romney?’”
tgk wrote:
Infinite Jost wrote:sherrod brown is a wife beater and hopefully he strokes out soon
delgriffith wrote:Now it’s ‘Romney-Ryan.’ Or is it ‘Ryan-Romney?’”