He's a Heartbeat Away From Junior Senator

Lawyers meet today; Durbin says Senate will back ruling on Burris
By Gabriel Winant,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 12, 2009 10:14 AM CST
He's a Heartbeat Away From Junior Senator
Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White speaks at a news conference Friday in Chicago, after Gov. Rod Blagojevich was impeached by the Illinois House.   (AP Photo)

A ruling could come today on whether Roland Burris can take Barack Obama’s Illinois Senate seat, Politico reports, with his lawyers meeting with the Senate’s legal counsel to discuss various documents certifying him for the job. Illinois’ secretary of State didn’t sign papers from embattled Gov. Rod Blagojevich, instead penning his own letter approving Burris. “The question is whether they are adequate,” Sen. Dick Durbin said yesterday.

If the letter from Jesse White is deemed sufficient, Burris could waltz right into the Senate, bypassing even the Rules Committee and full Senate votes that had been planned. Durbin says the full body will stand behind whatever ruling comes from the Senate’s legal counsel; Burris says he plans to sue if that ruling isn’t in his favor.
(More Roland Burris stories.)

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