http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37959947/ns/politics-capitol_hill?GT1=43001
Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia, a fiery orator versed in the classics and a hard-charging power broker who steered billions of federal dollars to the state of his Depression-era upbringing, died Monday. He was 92.
A spokesman for the family, Jesse Jacobs, said Byrd died peacefully at about 3 a.m. at Inova Hospital in Fairfax, Va. He had been in the hospital since late last week.
At first Byrd was believed to be suffering from heat exhaustion and severe dehydration, but other medical conditions developed. He had been in frail health for several years.
Byrd, a Democrat, was the longest-serving senator in history, holding his seat for more than 50 years. He was the Senate's majority leader for six of those years and was third in the line of succession to the presidency, behind House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
And unfortunate as it sounds, there may be a problem with picking a successor.
Apparently the election law isn't clear enough on the issue...
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0610/39092.html
West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin, a Democrat, has the power to appoint a successor to Byrd – but, because Byrd died at the beginning of this week and not the end, it’s not entirely clear whether that person will be a short-timer in the Senate or serve more than two years.
Under West Virginia election law, Manchin surely would have been able to appoint someone to fill the entire remainder of Byrd’s term had Byrd died after July 3 – or with less than 30 months left to go on a term that expires Jan. 3, 2013. But with more than 30 months left of an “unexpired term,” the law stipulates that he tap an interim successor until an election can be held.
That law, however, isn’t clear on two points within the construct: First, the law is silent on when, exactly, a vacancy occurs – at the time of death, when the Senate informs the state or when the governor declares it? – and the law for calling a special election is written in a way that suggests that it couldn't be held until the date of the next regularly scheduled election in 2012.
I have no doubts that the Secretary of State, working with their Attorney General, will be able to figure this out shortly, but right now the law is a little unclear.
We'll find out, though.
No problem in picking the temp...at least in my mind. For the past decade...Byrd has been unable to really function...so his chief of staff ran the office and every single vote. My guess is that the governor will appoint the chief of staff as the temp (same as Joe Biden's situation, if you remember), and they will run up a nasty race in the next election. I seem to recall a Air Force 4-star general (retired) from West Virgina who was thought to be the eventual replacement to Byrd.
ReplyDelete