But see Amendment XVII and Powell v. somebody. The gist is the Amendment is more specific and the court case says neither House can change the rules after the fact. Blago made the appointment and unless Harry can dust off a rule that allows him or a simple majority to say no, the must seat the guy and then expel him. They can’t make a new qualification and retroactively apply it. All this in the face of innocent until proven guilty. And the reality is that the Illinois Constitution gives the Supreme Court of Illinois the authority to temporarily pull Blago’s powers. They refused to do that so SCOTUS must take note that Illinois has refused to intervene. That’s a point Blago’s side will be sure to argue. This is a brilliant move by Blago - a wharf rat if I ever saw one! (IANL)
Popping popcorn :-)
POWELL v. McCORMACK, 395 U.S. 486 (1969)
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/powellvmc.html
Interesting, it appears dingy Harry would have no issue with warping the USC to his liking to prevent seating what he calls a “shadow” Senator.