And he, like Dianne Feinstein, is correct. There’s absolutely no legal standing for Harry Reid to block the appointment because he doesn’t like the legal, sitting governor of Illinois. Blago hasn’t even been indicted yet, much less convicted or removed from office. He has the legal right to appoint Roland Burris and has done so.

There is “no legal reason not to seat” Illinois’ Roland Burris to the Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama, Maryland’s former lieutenant governor, Michael Steele, told CNSNews.com on Monday…

“The bottom line is the issue’s not with him. It’s with the governor. So, legally and otherwise he’s, you know, it’s good,” said Steele. “Now, the Democrats have got their hands full, because they can seat him or not seat him, and the reality of it for them is there’s no legal reason not to seat him. He’s qualified. He’s dually presented by the sitting governor.”

We’ve covered this before, but it’s worth reviewing again. Reid claims the right to deny anyone under Article I, Section 5 of the Constitution. It states that, “Each House shall be the judge of the elections, returns and qualifications of its own members”. But a 1969 ruling by the United States Supreme Court (Powell v. McCormack) found that the “qualifications” are limited to Constitution requirements (ie. citizenship, age, residency).

Democrats were able to block Burris today on the fact that his credentials hadn’t be signed-off on by Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White. But White appears to have to sign-off on the governor’s appointments and doesn’t have the discretion to disagree with them. If Burris manages to force White to sign the appointment, I don’t see how Dems can Constitutionally block him from taking the seat.

Democrats brought this on themselves, of course. Blago actually asked Springfield, controlled by the donkeys, to require a special election to fill the seat. But, concerned about the prospect of a Republican winning the election, they didn’t want to do that. So here we are. A sitting governor legally appointing Obama’s replacement and Congressional Democrats trying to block said appointment with no legal basis.

Via Hot Air Headlines.