Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told reporters in the Capitol that Senate rules dictate that Burris must have the signature of both Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (which he has) and that of Secretary of State Jess White (which he doesn’t) as the first step in the process. That rule, added Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), dates back to 1884, and has “never been waived in the history of the United States Senate.” It’s a rule “not easily challenged or changed,” Durbin said.

The Illinois Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments today or tomorrow on the question of whether White, who has refused to certify Burris’ appointment, has the legal authority to do so. The court’s decision is expected to follow shortly thereafter.

“We’re hoping that they act on it in an expedited fashion,” Durbin said.

Not that White’s signature would guarantee that Burris would gain his seat. Reid said that that signature is “vital,” but other steps would follow.

“Then we’ll reassess where we are,” Reid said.

Burris, for example, is slated to testify under oath before Illinois state legislators tomorrow afternoon on his appointment — a hearing that Washington Democrats will be sure to scrutinize closely.

Reid said that Senate leaders might tap the Rules Committee to investigate the appointment, adding that the full Senate will also need to vote to approve Burris’ seating.

Both Reid and Durbin also downplayed the claims from some lawmakers — notably from Illinois Rep. Bobby Rush (D) — that the decision not to seat Burris yesterday was racist.

“A lot of people have tried to make this a racial issue,” Reid said, “but Roland Burris did not, and will not.”

“I do not know where that came from,” a Reid spokesperson wrote moments ago.

Reid and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the Democrats’ No. 2 figure in the upper chamber, are meeting with Burris now, with a press conference to follow. Stay tuned…

Democratic leaders feared that anyone appointed by Blagojevich would be ineffective because of the scandal surrounding the governor. But they ignored a couple things: (1) Blagojevich has yet to be convicted; (2) the appointment is perfectly legal; and 3) Burris is, by most accounts, a dedicated public servant who also happens not to be Blagojevich.

It took Democrat leaders until this morning to discover these things.

Note: An earlier version of this post omitted the word “Report” in the headline.

On [Harry Reid's] blacklist [of unacceptable choices for Barack Obama's Senate seat] were, according to the source, Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., Rep. Danny Davis and State Senate President Emil Jones.

What do the three have in common? All are black.

Reid reportedly urged Blagojevich to pick either state Veterans Affairs Director Tammy Duckworth or Attorney General Lisa Madigan.

What do these women have in common? Neither is black.

As Prince Riley, a senior consultant to Burris, told Politico, “It’s interesting that all those who are viable are white women and the ones who are unacceptable are black men.”

It sure is, Prince — if the story is true.

This is the same Pat Buchanan, mind you, who responded to Barack Obama’s speech on Jeremiah Wright by informing “black hustlers” that their “shakedown” of guilty whites had to end, be thankful for having been “brought from Africa in slave ships” and “introduced to Christian salvation,” and hang their heads over the “discrimination against white folks — with affirmative action, contract set-asides and quotas” that their political leaders demanded.

Look, I’m of the mind that Democrats blew the handling of the Blagojevich scandal when they panicked about losing his seat and backed off the idea of a special election. They got greedy and they’re paying the price with the Burris mess. If there’s an upside for liberals, it’s the comedy of Pat Buchanan and John Cornyn donning their dashikis and chanting “Uhuru!” in solidarity with Blagojevich’s bantamweight political pawn.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told CQ that there “likely will be an attempt to seat [Franken] this week.”

Yet when I talked to Franken spokesman Andy Barr on the phone earlier this afternoon, he wouldn’t say whether Franken had plans to fly to Washington.

“We’re not looking anywhere beyond the [canvassing board] meeting this afternoon,” Barr told me. When I asked if this meant that Franken had no imminent plans to head to the capital, he responded, “I’m not saying that,” adding, “He’s in Minneapolis and we’re looking forward to the canvassing board meeting.”

It’s entirely possible that the Democratic leaders in the Senate still haven’t worked out a game plan for Franken, especially since seating him could be difficult if they try to prevent Roland Burris from being seated. We should have a clearer picture by the end of the day.

When the new Senate is sworn in next week, it will most likely be a team of 98, following declarations by Senate leaders that Minnesota and Illinois will not be allowed to seat their controversial junior senators.

In Minnesota, Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar suggested last week that Al Franken be seated if he is certified as the winner by the State Canvassing Board, even though his Republican opponent, incumbent Sen. Norm Coleman, will be certain to contest the results.

But today, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), the new head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, vowed to block any attempt to seat Franken, according to Politico. Faced with the prospect of a Republican filibuster, it is unlikely that the Democrats will try to seat Franken before the election is fully settled.

And then there’s Illinois, which these days is looking like something out of Lewis Carroll. Daphne has a great post on this, in which she argues that the Democratic leadership in the Senate might have trouble preventing Roland Burris from taking his seat in the chamber. My old professor Akhil Reed Amar, widely considered the coolest constitutional scholar out there, comes to a different conclusion.

In any case, it’s almost inconceivable that the Senate will start its session at full strength. You might have to revise your lesson plan, Mr. Miller.

The story appears at Politico:

While state attorney general in 1992, Burris aggressively sought the death penalty for Rolando Cruz, who twice was convicted of raping and murdering a 10-year-old girl in the Chicago suburb of Naperville. The crime took place in 1983.

But by 1992, another man had confessed to the crime, and Burris’ own deputy attorney general was pleading with Burris to drop the case, then on appeal before the Illinois Supreme Court.

Burris refused. He was running for governor.

According to the article, Cruz spent 11 years on death row before being set free in 1995 after being acquitted in a third trial. A prosecutor and a detective resigned in protest of the prosecutorial misconduct they witnessed while working on the case.

Burris’ bid for the Senate seat may have been doomed from the beginning, as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Obama have both voiced opposition to the pick, but the Cruz case will likely be another nail in the coffin.

It was a theme that would dominate the short press conference, with Blagojevich urging, “Don’t allow the allegations against me to taint this good and honest man.”

Taking the podium, Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) cheered the decision to replace President-elect Barack Obama with another African American, calling it a choice of “tremendous national importance.”

“Separate, if you will, the appointee from the appointer,” Rush pleaded.

It’s not likely to happen. In a joint statement issued just before the press conference, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Sen. Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) dismissed the idea of seating Burris:

It is truly regrettable that despite requests from all 50 Democratic senators and public officials throughout Illinois, Gov. Blagojevich would take the imprudent step of appointing someone to the United States Senate who would serve under a shadow and be plagued by questions of impropriety.

Under these circumstances, anyone appointed by Gov. Blagojevich cannot be an effective representative of the people of Illinois and, as we have said, will not be seated by the Democratic Caucus.

Blagojevich was arrested this month for allegedly trying to pawn the Senate seat left empty following Obama’s election to the White House. Blagojevich insisted Tuesday that it’s a simple legal matter: “The law requires that the governor make an appointment,” he said. Citing the state legislature’s failure to act on a bill calling for a special election, the embattled governor said that, “Failing that, then it’s the governor’s responsibiity to fill the vacancy.”

Burris, for his part, said, he is “proud of my accomplishments as an elected official,” adding that, “I have no comment on what the governor’s circumstance is.”

In the eyes of Reid and Durbin, however, Burris’s accomplishments are irrelevant. “It is unfair to Mr. Burris,” the Democrats said, “it is unfair to the people of Illinois and it will ultimately not stand.”