Commenter sgwhiteinfla asks:
How can Reid stop Burris from being seated even if he wanted to[?]
That’s a good question. Jeff Greenfield, looking at the precedents, doesn’t think he can:
In the past, the Senate has ruled on appointments where the power of an outgoing governor to make an appointment was unclear. But as of now, there seems little question that Blagojevich is still the governor; the state legislature has not changed the appointment power; and as of now, Blagojevich has not been convicted, or even indicted.
By contrast, the Senate may well have more Constitutional power to expel a Senator than to refuse to seat one. But that raises the dicey political question: would the Senate really want to expel a qualified, experienced political veteran who has never been tainted with any scandal? And who, by the way, would be the only African-American in that body?
UPDATE: Flashback.
UPDATE2: Phil Singer has some advice for Burris.