Burris Saga Is Over As Democrats Accept Him Into The Senate
They didn’t have a choice, and ultimately would have lost any prolonged legal battle about it, which leaves me wondering why they made such a stink over it in the first place.
The Roland Burris saga is over, as Democratic Senate leaders have accepted his credentials, clearing the way for him to be sworn in as the junior senator from Illinois by the end of this week.
The decision ends an embarrassing chapter in Democratic politics and allows the Senate to move on after the Burris spectacle dominated the opening week of the 111th Congress
In a statement issued after a 45-minute meeting between Senate officials and Burris’ lawyers, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said Burris is the senator-designate from Illinois now that the secretary of the Senate has approved his latest credentials.
“Accordingly, barring objections from Senate Republicans, we expect Senator-designee Burris to be sworn in and formally seated later this week,” the statement said. “We are working with him and the office of the vice president to determine the date and time of the swearing-in.”
The statement marks a major departure for Democratic leaders, who reversed themselves and decided to take their lumps in the media for a short period of time, rather than allowing the issue to drag on indefinitely. After first saying they would never seat an appointee from the scandal-tarred Gov. Rod Blagojevich, Democrats relented and decided to lay out a three-step process to seat Burris.
All politics and policy aside, I don’t see how even Democrats can be happy about how Harry Reid handled this.
