Senators Kick Burris Away at Capitol

Senate officials have rejected former Illinois attorney general Roland Burris's attempt to be seated as the successor to President elect Barack Obama, saying he lacked the approval of state officials to be sworn in with the 111th Congress.

A man who once said his success in politics was the result of

"divine intervention" stood outside the Capitol yesterday and declared: "Members of the media, my name is Roland Burris, the junior senator from the state of Illinois." 

Blocked from claiming a Senate seat

The 71-year-old former state attorney general had pressed his case over the objections of Senate Democrats and the man he would replace, President-elect Barack Obama, but instead found himself holding a news conference on the lawn outside the Capitol just minutes before new senators were sworn in. The man who has already had his own mausoleum constructed in Illinois showed no signs of backing down.

"He thinks he's got a shot, and he's an ambitious guy with a large ego," said Don Rose, a political consultant in Chicago who has known Burris since the 1960s. "I'm not sure that separates him from anybody in the Senate. . . . He's paid a lot of dues, and he may feel he's paid his dues."

Burris's single-minded push may yet succeed. Senate Democrats, once sharply opposed to allowing Burris to be seated because he was appointed by embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D), are now considering allowing him to serve as a way to end a confrontation that could drag on for weeks and distract from what they hope will be an end to a decade of gridlock on Capitol Hill. One idea being considered, Democratic officials said, is allowing Burris to be seated if he agrees not to run for election in 2010, allowing the party to recruit another candidate to defend the seat (Burris has lost multiple statewide races in Illinois).

Sen.  Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) and  Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) plan to meet with Burris today on Capitol Hill, and the two leaders are undoubtedly eager to defuse a situation in which their resistance to the appointment could alienate black voters.