The Illinois legislature continues to dither about whether to impeach and remove Gov. Rod Blagojevich from office:
SPRINGFIELD—Illinois lawmakers return to the Capitol on Monday with plans to disarm and dislodge Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich, whose arrest in an alleged attempt to sell President-elect Barack Obama’s U.S. Senate seat has thrown state government up for grabs.
But with Republicans looking to turn the tables on Democrats who control the Statehouse, and disagreement among leaders over whether to proceed with impeachment and how to handle the Senate dilemma, the only certainty on the agenda is chaos.
Blagojevich, arrested Tuesday on charges alleging that he sought bribes for everything from Obama’s Senate seat to state jobs and contracts, met with a prominent defense attorney Sunday but stayed largely out of sight and made no comment about his situation.
In his absence, leading Democrats and Republicans jockeyed for position in a growing battle for the two biggest prizes in state politics: the office of governor and a seat in the U.S. Senate.
Doing nothing is the normal bureaucratic response to crisis. Sometimes nothing is the right thing to do but not under the present circumstances. Presumably, they’re hoping that Gov. Blagojevich will resign and save them the trouble of acting, something I think he’d be a fool to do but, hey, being a fool has worked so well for him so far! Would his attorney recommend resignation? I doubt it.
It’s also been suggested that Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan is deliberately delaying filing the bill of impeachment against the governor that’s been ready for some timein order to further his daughter’s, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s, gubernatorial ambitions. Perhaps Illinois needs an anti-nepotism constitutional amendment.
AG Madigan hasn’t exactly been covering herself in glory with the case she’s filed with the Illinois Supreme Court. It’s been receiving substantial criticism cf. here, here, and here.
Worse yet the Illinois Supreme Court is all but certain to reject the case—the Court doesn’t want to deal with this matter any more than the legislature does.
Losing and filing a case that’s half-baked is probably not the best way to propel yourself into the State House (or a Senate seat).
What needs to happen here is for the Illinois House to impeach Gov. Blagojevich and the Illinois Senate to remove him from office, as prescribed by law. The Illinois Senate has plenary power in the matter of impeachments. They can limit discovery, make the rules, and set the terms of the trial. There is no limit to its power in this area: that’s what plenary power means.
The Illinois legislature must act now.
I think once the A.G. suggested she might file the disability petition, it was best that she do so immediately. She has asked for a temporary restraining order. One of the issues to be resolved in a TRO is whether the Court believes the petitioner has a likelihood of success on the merits. If the petition is as bad as many think, there will shortly be a court decision explaining why the court thinks the A.G. is likely to lose. I don’t think the A.G. will be hurt by trying, particularly if the legislature is fiddling.
I am concerned about the “precedent” of the Heiple impeachment inquiry, in which opportunities to cross-examine and subpoena witnesses were provided to the accused in the House. Not binding precedent, but enough to make House members nervous. I agree that impeachment is a political act, requiring no more deliberations than normal legislation (though more votes), but there are the needs of political theatre.
Since the Governor is already mortgaged to his lawyers, one does wonder how he is going to pay for a defense on multiple fronts.
The proposed resolution for a House Inquiry Comm’n seems similar to the practice with Heiple with at least one exception: not an equal number of Republicans and Democrats and a requirement to report before the end of the session.