Burris was appointed Dec. 30 by disgraced Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, less than a month after the governor was arrested for allegedly scheming to “sell” the seat.

Senate Democrats initially argued that Burris should not be seated because the Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White refused to sign off on Burris’s appointment. However, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled Jan. 9 that the appointment was valid even without the Secretary of State’s signature.

No one alleged that Burris was involved in any corrupt dealings, but many, including White and many Senate Democrats, felt that it was unseemly to allow the appointment to stand, given the cloud over the governor.

For all their tough talk, the Senate Democrats backed down today. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) announced Monday afternoon that they had informed Mr. Burris that he was officially Illinois junior senator-designate.

Yet it appears that Roland Burris, the former Illinois attorney general appointed by embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) last month to fill Barack Obama’s vacant Senate seat, has every intention of arriving at the Capitol tomorrow to be sworn in for the post. From The Washington Post:

“The appointment is legal. I am the junior senator from the state of Illinois,” Burris said as he prepared to travel Monday to Washington for a full day of meetings. (With whom? He declined to say.) “The next step in the process is to be sworn in” on Tuesday.

Burris will not, however, be carrying a crucial document: the certification by Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White that the appointment is legal. White has refused to sign the certification, reiterating his reasons during an interview with Fox News today:

Well, he [Burris] is a dear friend of mine. I’ve known him for long period of time. He has impeccable credentials.

But when the governor was arrested on December the 9th, all of the constitutional officers, along with Roland Burris and Congressman Bobby Rush, all agreed that we would not honor any appointment put forth by the governor of the state of Illinois.

This gentleman [Blagojevich] had just gotten out of jail. He’s on bond. He was arrested for federal corruption charges. He’s in the process of being impeached and indicted.

So I’m on record of saying that I would not accept an appointment put forth by the governor of the state of Illinois.

That could lead to an uncomfortable encounter at the Senate’s chamber door tomorrow — a situation that’s already causing the Senate’s Sergeant of Arms Terrance Gainer to say he’ll have a talk with Burris tomorrow morning before the swearing-in ceremony to avoid any confrontation. From The Hill:

“I talked with the staff of Mr. Burris, and we are going to talk in the morning, Tuesday morning, and decide how to proceed,” Gainer said. “Mr. Burris is a law-abiding, law enforcement type of person, so we do not expect any kind of unpleasant scene.”

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who’s come out powerfully against seating anyone appointed by Blagojevich, seemed to temper that stance Sunday on Meet the Press, saying that “there’s always room to negotiate.”

No doubt, those negotiations are currently underway.