The article doesn’t actually mention that the strict reading of the rules doesn’t permit this until the 9th paragraph, but it’s terribly important. The Secretary of the Senate is allowed to preside only if no president pro tempore has been chosen. Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV) was elected to that position last January.

Nancy Erickson, a Democratic aide who serves as secretary of the Senate, stood in Friday for a tardy Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark.

It turns out that Senate rules provide for such contingencies, however rare they may be. The secretary of the Senate is an officer elected by the full Senate to help manage the place and has the right under the rules to preside when there are no senators available.

A sheepish Lincoln, who said she was victim of a slow-running clock, turned up minutes after the 11a.m. session was to begin…

It was the first time in more than 60 years that someone other than a senator had to fill in. Back in 1947, a spat between the parties blocked the Senate from naming a presiding officer known as the president pro tempore. Then, Leslie Biffle, a confidante of President Harry Truman who was the secretary of the Senate, filled the chair instead.

A strict reading of Senate rules suggests that Friday’s session might not have been entirely legitimate since the rules say the secretary can preside if a president pro tempore hasn’t yet been chosen. President Pro Tempore Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., was elected last January.

The AP says Republicans agreed with Democrats that Friday’s “session” passed the “muster”, but it doesn’t quote a single one.