• Home
  • News
    • Politics & Government
    • Business & Economy
    • Crime / Courts
    • Health / Medicine
  • Sports
    • High School Sports
    • Radio Iowa Poll
  • Affiliates
    • Affiliate Support Page
  • Contact Us
    • Reporters

Radio Iowa

Iowa's Radio News Network

You are here: Home / Politics / Govt / Grassley weighs in on controversy over Obama’s senate seat

Grassley weighs in on controversy over Obama’s senate seat

January 9, 2009 By admin

Most Republicans in the U.S. Senate have been quiet about the controversy surrounding the man appointed to out-going Illinois Senator Barack Obama’s seat, but Senator Chuck Grassley this week said it’s important for the senate to follow the "rule of law." Democrats reversed course mid-week and cleared the way for Roland Burris — the pick of the embattled Illinois governor — to be seated as Obama’s replacement.

Grassley this week indicated that’s probably the right path to pursue. "The Supreme Court made a decision in roughly 1970 in the Adam Clayton Powell case that said that as long as a member meets age, residence and citizenship qualifications, the House of Representatives — that case — couldn’t deny him a seat," Grassley said during a telephone conference call this week.

According to Grassley, Burris — a Democrat — has a "perfect right" to be the next junior senator from Illinois. "We Republicans were advocating a special election, but that can’t be done only by the Illinois legislature setting it up," Grassley said, "If that isn’t going to be done, I don’t see how you select a senator except by governor appointment."

The top Republican in the senate has said it is the "unanimous Republican view" that the situation involving the Illinois senate seat is a "an ethnically-tainted, challenging mess" in which Republicans don’t want to become entangled.

Iowa’s other U.S. Senator, Democrat Tom Harkin, has called Burris "clean as a whistle" and said Wednesday that "basically, (Burris) should have been seated" as a U.S. Senator when he arrived at the capitol on Monday. Under a deal worked out Wednesday, Burris will be sworn in as a U.S. Senator if the Illinois Secretary of State signs his appointment papers and Burris clears an Illinois state senate committee and the U.S. Senate’s Rules Committee.

(Shane McBryde of KBUR in Burlington contributed to this story.)

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Filed Under: Politics / Govt Tagged With: Chuck Grassley, Democratic Party, Republican Party, Tom Harkin

Featured Stories

Congresswoman Axne favors Biden pandemic relief plan, Hinson not ruling out a ‘yes’

DOT plow crews struggling against blizzard conditions

Death penalty proposed for specific child murder cases

Iowa delegation breaks along party lines on Trump impeachment vote

Two northeast Iowa men admit to illegally harvesting ginseng

TwitterFacebook
Tweets by RadioIowa

Iowa State-Kansas postponed

Iowa-Michigan State postponed

Fire damage to Riverfront Stadium electrical system will cost Waterloo thousands

Iowa State at Kansas State postponed

Iowa State’s Foster to miss remainder of the season

More Sports

eNews and Updates

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Archives

Copyright © 2021 ยท Learfield News & Ag, LLC