Jan 2, 2009 6:51 pm US/Central
Illinois House May Be Expediting Impeachment
State House Changes Schedule
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich speaks at his first press conference since his recent arrest Dec. 19, 2008, at the Thompson Center.
Scott Olson/Getty Images
Gov. Rod Blagojevich could be impeached as early as next week.
Speaker Madigan reached out to House members Friday and told all of them to be back in Springfield next Wednesday. It's a signal he may want the full House to vote on Blagojevich's impeachment sooner than later.
Illinois' new lawmakers aren't scheduled to be sworn in until Jan. 14, but House Speaker Mike Madigan wants to take care of state business before that. He's calling all state representatives back to the capitol four days early - one day after the Impeachment Committee could get access to some federal wiretapped conversations involving Blagojevich's alleged "pay to play" corruption.
Political analyst Paul Green isn't surprised at Madigan's move.
"No, because clearly the legal process which he has no control over is going to take a while, a long while. The governor is not going to resign, and so they have to move the impeachment along, "Green said.
The impeachment hearings began almost three weeks ago - the latest hearing taking place on Monday. The governor has not been present at any of the committee's hearings, but his spokesman says Blagojevich isn't surprised, either, at the possibility of rushing an impeachment vote.
"Look, it's their process," the spokesman, Lucio Guerrero, said. "They've shown that they're the ones running the rules, running the show, so obviously it's up to them to decide the timetable on it. The governor just wants to have a fair shake in that thing."
It's possible Madigan wants to wrap up the House's vote before new lawmakers are sworn in - cleanly handing the matter over to the Senate to ultimately vote on whether to convict and throw Blagojevich out of office. Green says only then could the state get back to its real business.
"This state's got real problems. This is all a sideshow," Green said.
Even if the House wraps this up next week, it could take weeks before the Senate votes.
The governor's attorney, Ed Gensen, has argued Blagojevich isn't getting a fair shake and could demand more time for his client.
Two-thirds of the Senate has to vote to convict -that's a supermajority before the governor would be removed from office.
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