Sunday Talk: Senate Leaders Stand Ground Against Burris

Naftali Bendavid reports from Washington on the Sunday morning talk shows. Democratic Senate leaders Sunday insisted on their right to refuse to seat Roland Burris , who has been named by embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to fill the Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama . Burris, a former state attorney general, has said he plans to show up Tuesday when the new Congress convenes and that, as Blagojevich’s appointee, he believes the Senate has no legal right to reject him. But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday that the Senate has the legal and historical authority to decide whether a would-be senator is too tainted to join the chamber. “We determine who sits in the Senate and the House determines who sits in the House, so there’s clearly legal authority for us to do whatever we want to do,” Reid said. “This goes back for generations.” Reid said that while he does not question Burris’s qualifications, ... (link)