Yesterday, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn (D) said that if “embattled U.S. Sen. Roland Burris doesn’t step down within the next two weeks, he wants lawmakers to send him a bill to set up a special election that could effectively remove Burris from office,” the Chicago Tribune reports.
Quinn, appearing on “The Steve Cochran Show” on WGN-AM (720), said he spoke to the top two Democrats in the General Assembly today about the possibility of moving ahead with the legislation, which would take advantage of a clause contained in the U.S. Constitution’s 17th Amendment.
Quinn’s actions follow a legal opinion issued last night by Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan who said she believed the state could enact a special-election law that would effectively force Burris from office. Under the Constitution, a governor’s appointments to fill Senate vacancies should be considered temporary until an election is held, she said.
But under current state law, appointments to Senate vacancies last until the next federal election, which is scheduled for next year. Burris was appointed by former-Gov. Rod Blagojevich to fill the vacancy left by President Barack Obama. The appointment came three weeks after Blagojevich’s Dec. 9 arrest on federal criminal charges of allegedly trying to sell the Senate seat for personal or political gain.
Mr. Burris’ response, or lack thereof:
For his part, Burris offered no comments in Washington today although his office noted in a news release that as “the nation’s only African American senator” the junior senator from Illinois “applauded the swift passage” of a resolution to authorize a plaque to commemorate the role of slave laborers in constructing the U.S. Capitol building. Burris was a co-sponsor of the resolution.
Congress in Your Pocket
