The political future of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is beginning to look as bleak as Elliot Spitzer’s was in the days before he resigned from office back in April.
The Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, and Springfield State Journal-Register all have editorials this morning calling on Blagojevich to resign immediately, or for his impeachment if he refuses to do so.
If Blagojevich doesn’t resign, though, it appears that impeachment by the legislature may be a long process:
Several fellow constitutional officers and many lawmakers said if Blagojevich won’t step down on his own, he should be taken out through impeachment.
That possibility has been talked about for months, but legislators have been wary of starting what could be a bloody political battle. Now that the governor faces serious criminal allegations, though, the dynamic has changed.
Any impeachment proceedings would begin in the Illinois House, with a trial to follow in the state Senate if the House supports impeachment.
House Speaker Michael Madigan, a nemesis of the governor for years, issued a statement Tuesday saying that he would consider and discuss suggestions made by House Republican Leader Tom Cross, who called for the House to immediately begin impeachment proceedings.
Madigan called Blagojevich’s arrest “a new low for conduct by public officials.”
(…)
Madigan spokesman Steve Brown cautioned there are several complications to proceeding with impeachment, including timing.
A new legislature will be sworn in Jan. 14, and if impeachment proceedings start before then, there’s a question of whether they could continue with new lawmakers or have to start over.
Rep. Gary Hannig, D-Litchfield, said the timing issue is why legislators might wait a few weeks to push impeachment. Hannig agreed that Blagojevich should resign first.
So, that would appear to make it unlikely that impeachment proceedings would begin before the new legislature convenes in January, which is why Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan — daughter of the state House Speaker and allegedly the person identified as Senate Candidate 2 in the Balgojevich indictment — is reportedly considering another option:
SPRINGFIELD — If Gov. Blagojevich refuses to relinquish power and avoids impeachment, Attorney General Lisa Madigan is prepared to force his hand, aides said Tuesday.
The state’s chief law enforcement officer is prepared to invoke an obscure Illinois Supreme Court rule under which the state’s seven justices could vote to oust a sitting governor deemed unfit for office.
(…)
The state Constitution doesn’t explicitly indicate an officeholder can be ousted by the court or by impeachment if that person faces criminal charges. Instead, the Constitution uses terms such as “failure to qualify” or “disability” in laying out causes to impeach someone.
The Supreme Court rule allowing justices to wade into the issue of gubernatorial fitness is even less defined, saying only that the court has authority to determine “the ability of the governor to serve.”
At the very least, the move is on to strip Blagojevich of the power to appoint a replacement for Barack Obama in the Senate, which is what led to his arrest to begin with.
Clearly, Rod Blagojevich’s days as Governor are numbered, the only question is when he will leave office. I’m guessing it will be before the end of the year.
