Harry Reid is threatening to block any appointment by Gov. Rod Blagojevich — and the governor has now officially appointed Roland Burris — but can he legally do that? According to the Warren Court, no. Ironic.

In 1969, the Supreme Court ruled that the House of Representatives could not refuse to seat Rep. Adam Clayton Powell Jr., a New York Democrat who was accused of putting his wife on the payroll and misusing travel funds to vacation in the Caribbean. Despite those charges, he had been reelected by his constituents in Harlem.

“The Constitution does not vest in the Congress a discretionary power to deny membership by majority vote,” wrote Chief Justice Earl Warren. Congress may “judge only the qualifications set forth in the Constitution,” he said.

The qualifications are minimal. A senator must be at least 30 years old, a U.S. citizen and “an inhabitant” of the state.

So, it would seem that Governor Blagojevich, as long as he’s governor, can appoint Burris and the Congress can only deny him if he fails to meet the Constitutional requirements. Burris is 71, a U.S. citizen, and resident of Illinois.

By the way, the press conference is a freakshow. Blago calls Burris a man with integrity, while Bobby Rush comes up and makes a statement about how great it is that another African American is in the Senate and rambles on unintelligibly.

Update: Yes, by a two-thirds vote the Senate can expel a member once he’s accepted. Two issues: 1) Rush, while rambling, made a point about Democratic Senators going on record to block the only black member of the Senate; 2) Are Republicans really willing (Dems don’t hold 60 seats) to help out the majority by removing a Blago appointee from the seat for 2010?

Update X2: Bobby Rush has quite an interesting resume, btw. He’s a co-founder of the Illinois Black Panther Party.

Via Hot Air.