Oh boy, here we go...

Still-Governor Rod Blagojevich(D-Loose Cannonville) has appointed former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris to fill the senate seat of President-Elect Barack Obama.

Harry Reid: “Oh, no you didn't!”

It is truly regrettable that despite requests from all 50 Democratic Senators and public officials throughout Illinois, Gov. Blagojevich would take the imprudent step of appointing someone to the United States Senate who would serve under a shadow and be plagued by questions of impropriety. We say this without prejudice toward Roland Burris's ability, and we respect his years of public service. But this is not about Mr. Burris; it is about the integrity of a governor accused of attempting to sell this United States Senate seat. Under these circumstances, anyone appointed by Gov. Blagojevich cannot be an effective representative of the people of Illinois and, as we have said, will not be seated by the Democratic Caucus

Here's the problem: It would be a difficult constitutional question to answer whether or not the senate could vote down a gubernatorial appointment, it may not even be legal. Here is the language of the constitution with regards to the matter from Article I Section 4:

Each House shall be the judge of the elections, returns and qualifications of its own members...

Problem: Ronald Burris was not elected, thus there were no returns, and he is certainly qualified as laid out in Article I Section 3:

No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the age of thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the United States and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that state for which he shall be chosen.

What would likely have to happen would be that the senate would be required to seat Mr. Burris, swear him in, and then vote on expulsion as provided in Article I Section 5:

Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two thirds, expel a member.

That may not go over so well...there are certain to be some Republicans who would like to keep the man appointed by the least popular governor in the country around as a punching bag as long as possible. This may be indicted congressman Bill Jefferson's replacement in Congress.

What is fairly clear is that, as the above letter states, Burris will not under any circumstances be seated in the Democratic caucus. That in and of itself is significant. It means that Burris will be Bill Jefferson in another sense: he won't have a single committee assignment(unless the Republicans let him into their caucus...then again, given the fact that they didn't even threw out Ted Stevens, a convicted felon, from their ranks, they might be willing to welcome him in...

In reality, Burris will only be able to cast floor votes, and will have very little influence on real policy. He will be a lame duck unable to run for election come time for such a special election. Illinois will not be properly represented until someone other than Rod Blagojevich(be it the Lieutenant Governor or preferably the people of Illinois) sends someone to the Senate.

Finally: here's an interesting question: What if you make an appointment to the U.S. Senate, but your Secretary of State refuses to certify said appointment? Here's my guess: you get a court order forcing the Secretary of State to certify the appointment, pursuant to 15 ILCS 305/5:

It shall be the duty of the Secretary of State...To make a register of all appointments by the Governor, specifying the person appointed, the office conferred, the date of the appointment, the date when bond or oath is taken and the date filed. If Senate confirmation is required, the date of the confirmation shall be included in the register.

This will only stall the inevitable. Although by dragging his feet the Secretary of State may be able to give the legislature time to impeach the Governor in time for the Lieutenant to withdraw the appointment prior to its certification and make his own appointment. It also would give the legislature time to repeal the Governor's ability to appoint the next U.S. Senator. That would be difficult, and would be a legal battle that would head to the U.S Supreme Court...Ex-Post-Facto laws and such...dates...etc...

Definitely will be interesting to watch and see how it plays out though...

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