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Senate Dems Urge Gov. Not To Make Appointment

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Dec 10, 2008 5:45 pm US/Central

Senate Dems Urge Gov. Not To Make Appointment

WASHINGTON (CBS) ― Senate Democrats led by U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin are warning Gov. Rod Blagojevich not to name a replacement for President-elect Barack Obama.

And they're hinting they may refuse to allow Blagojevich's choice to take the Senate seat.

CBS 2 Political Editor Mike Flannery reports that senators are signing a draft letter warning Gov. Blagojevich not to appoint a successor for Obama.

And they explicitly reserve the right to use the power the Constitution grants them to refuse to let any Blagojevich appointee to occupy President-elect Obama's former seat in the Senate.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is still collecting signatures on the draft letter. CBS 2 News obtained a copy. It states:

"We write to insist that you step down as Governor of Illinois and under no circumstance make an appointment to fill the vacant Illinois Senate seat…Please understand that should you decide to ignore the request of the Senate Democratic Caucus and make an appointment we would be forced to exercise our Constitutional authority…to determine whether such a person should be seated."

For as long as he is the sitting governor of Illinois, Blagojevich retains the right to appoint someone to serve the two years that remain on Obama's unexpired Senate term.

One Democratic source close to the Obama camp notes that the governor would not in any event send his nomination directly to the U.S. Senate. He must deliver it to Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White. The source suggested White could "slow walk it to Washington" or even just refuse to forward it to the U.S. Senate at all - perhaps forcing Blagojevich to go to court to ask a judge to order Secretary White to deliver the nomination.

CBS 2's Mike Flannery and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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