Academic

Another Thought on Blago, Burris, and the Senate

By Calvin Massey

  Under Illinois law, the Secretary of State must endorse a Governor's appointment to fill a Senate vacancy.  The Secretary of State is an executive official.  If Illinois law expressly conditions the validity of a gubernatorial appointment to fill a Senate vacancy upon the Secretary of State's assent, there is wiggle room for the US Senate to declare that the "executive authority" of Illinois has not filled the vacancy, because Illinois law (exercised under the  17th Amendment's proviso) makes the executive authority of the state (for purposes of the 17th Amendment) consist of an appointment by the Governor and the consent of the Secretary of State.  But if Illinois law makes the Secretary of State's action purely ministerial and does not condition the effectiveness of the Governor's act upon the Secretary's assent, this argument holds no water.     

Full post as published by The Faculty Lounge on January 01, 2009 (boomark / email).