Posted on 01/19/2010 4:33:37 AM PST by Libloather
Winner May Not Be Sworn in Until February
By Kathleen Hunter and Emily Cadei, CQ-Roll Call
Jan. 19, 2010 – 6:47 a.m.
The office of Majority Leader Harry Reid says there will be no attempt to swear in a new senator until Massachusetts gets all the right paperwork to Washington. Appointed Sen. Paul G. Kirk Jr. , a Democrat, in the meantime will keep the job and cast the votes. “When there is a certified winner in Massachusetts, the Senate has received appropriate papers, and the Vice President is available, the successor to Sens. Kennedy and Kirk will be sworn in,” said Regan Lachapelle, a Reid, D-Nev., spokeswoman.
Actually, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. isn’t essential to the process, even though he is president of the Senate; there’s plenty of precedent for a swearing-in to be handled by substitutes.
But there’s no substitution for the proper paperwork.
Federal law requires cities and towns to wait 10 days to receive military and overseas absentee ballots that were mailed by Election Day. From there, the municipalities forward their returns to the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, who sends the result to the governor’s office for certification. The governor, secretary of the governor’s council and secretary of the Commonwealth each must sign the certification.
William Galvin, a spokesman for the Secretary of the Commonwealth, there has “never been an instance of the governor not signing the certification given to him.”
“It will be done as expediently as it has been done in the past,” he added.
Rep. Niki Tsongas , D-Mass., was sworn in more quickly after her 2007 special election victory because the House requested a letter from Massachusetts saying it appeared Tsongas had won based on unofficial returns. The Senate, Galvin said, doesn’t do that.
In fact, when Democrat Al Franken was the by-a-hair Senate victor in Minnesota in November 2008, the Democratic leadership didn’t try to install him in office until Republican Norm Coleman had exhausted all of his legal challenges and the state had officially certified the outcome of that race. That meant no swearing-in until July.
However, if Republican Scott Brown wins a clear victory over Democrat Martha Coakley, the GOP may argue that Reid should use a different standard this time, since the Senate has the ultimate say in designating criteria for seating its members.
Teddy was seated the day after his special election. There will be backlash if Reid and his fellow socialists try to pull this stunt.
Typical lib Democrat lies. They know full well that they have a LONG history, especially in Mass., of bending the rules ANY time it suited them (which meant....always; they always elected Dems in that State and ‘sat’ them double-quick).
If Reid & Co. try this chicanery, it WILL bite them in their collective butts in ways they cannot yet imagine.
If his victory appears sound tonight, he needs to board the plane for DC and appear tomorrow morning to be sworn in. 24 hours was good enough for the Swimmer, it’s good enough for Brown. If that’s not enough, perhaps we can assemble an army of people around the Capitol to yell, “Get out of Sen. Brown’s seat, MISTER Kirk !”
If this happens, Republican senators should storm the podium and seize the gavel.
We can’t afford to stand around with our fingers up our butts and allow the Democrats to steal this election. Our survival as a Nation is at stake.
Read yesterday Brown said he will be in DC Friday if he wins.
According to Massachusetts law, Kirk will be out of a job immediately after the election.
Rail, whine, and threaten all we want, there is nothing that any one of us can do to make Dirty Harry do the right thing. After all, what are we going to do? Vote him out of office? That is very likely already going to happen. So what we are dealing with is like a jihadist suicide bomber with terminal cancer. With nothing to live for (politically), Harry has said FU-USA.
Our only hope is that there are enough Senate procedural events that can block the vote on the Health Insurance Takeover until Brown has to be seated.
The real sad part of this is that when Harry, Nancy, and all the rest are turned out of office, they return to their usual life of luxury to enjoy their end-of-life years covered by a medical plan that will insure that they will probably outlive us all.
We’re gonna remember this when you’re back in the minority position Harry, back where you belong.
If the GOP attorneys Fred Barnes cites have a correct read on the law, it’s grounds for a fast track appeal to the Supremes, right?
Here's the secret! I see "our" VP diagnosed with a long-term illness preventing him from his "official" duties until after Obamacare is passed by Kirk.
They can posture all they want, it doesn’t matter.
Senate precedent says Kirk can’t vote once the election has occured. Even litigating the question will take longer to complete that certifying Brown, so they’ve already lost their 60th vote, which is what is important (not the 41st vote against.) To overcome a filibuster, they need 60 votes.
Unless Coakley wins by a large margin, and Brown concedes, the election at worst will be stuck in recounts and litigation for a while (think Franken v. Coleman,) thus, the ‘rats don’t have the votes needed to overcome the filibuster. Here’s hoping Brown is smart enough not to concede.
Optimistic
i thought that once he was certified they had to seat him within 15 days by law...??....
I think all these “doomsday” scenarios the Dims are floating out there are just that... floaters; poor ideas that need to be flushed. But they are nothing to be concerned about as they are Kamikaze-esqe ideas.
I’m not sure to what degree the Dims ears are tinned, but this race has been to publicized nationally for them to be able to play any games. All but the most greasy hacks will be appalled if Brown’s swearing in is delayed for political reasons or if HRC is rammed through w/o further debate.
If the Dims are smart (not saying they are, except maybe by half), they’ll play this on the straight and narrow, though not sure they understand that concept. Swear in Brown in a timely fashion, if elected, and kill HRC. They can then possible avoid total annihilation in Nov.
According to Massachusetts law, Kirk will be out of a job immediately after the election.
It's amazing that the laws were not changed overnight. The Masshole libtards do not have a problem changing laws to suit their need of the moment.
Let him try. There are enough people pissed off about exactly this kind of crap, that it could well trigger open season on all Democratic incumbents in the Fall.
The only thing Dusty Harry will accomplish with this is to also put the Senate into play for the Republicans in 2010, instead of just the House.
Aha...the ol' Secretary of State Certification is in the hands of a Democrat in Mass., I presume?
This is the plan then to delay a Brown certification, to allow Socialized Medicine to be passed and the timing of The Messiah's "State of the Socialist Republic" Address clearly is in tune with the passage timing.....
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