Reporting yesterday on Big Government, I reiterated the fact that interim Senator Paul Kirk should have resigned his Senate seat after the election. However, Kirk certainly has no option but to vacate the MA Senate seat once Brown’s election is certified–all based on Massachusetts state law and Senate rules. In following-up the story it is being reported by The Hill that Senator-elect Brown will be sworn in about 5PM Thursday, February 4th.
In learning this information, I wanted to confirm when Senator Kirk was going to resign his interim Senate seat. Staff at Kirk’s office said that he would step down once Brown was sworn in.
In case Kirk needs a reminder of the changed Massachusetts law that allowed for his appointment by Governor Patrick as the interim senator, here it is:
Chapter 92 of the Acts of 2009
AN ACT RELATIVE TO FILLING A TEMPORARY VACANCY IN THE UNITED STATES SENATE.Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
Section 140 of chapter 54 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2008 Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding the following subsection:-
(f) Upon failure to choose a senator in congress or upon a vacancy in that office, the governor shall make a temporary appointment to fill the vacancy; provided, however, that the person so appointed shall serve until the election and qualification of the person duly elected to fill the vacancy pursuant to subsection (a) or (c). Approved September 24, 2009. Emphasis mine.
The original MA law can be found here.
The MA law is very clear and Scott Brown will have met the requirements necessary; therefore, Kirk must step down as the senator from Massachusetts tomorrow morning, the moment Brown’s election is certified. Massachusetts law does not have any language pertaining to swearing in of the senator-elect. If Kirk does not resign his Senate seat, then he will be in violation of the state law and the Senate rules.
So, the question remains: Will Paul Kirk show up for work and continue to vote throughout the day, including the confirmation of controversial nominee M. Patricia Smith and provide the 60th vote or will he be packing his office and sending his regards to his former colleagues.
Finally, Brown’s demand is a bit melodramatic as he did wait the required time for certification. The Massachusetts Secretary of State, and local election clerks, must wait at least 10 days for absentee ballots (January 29) to arrive before they can certify the results, and then they have an additional five days (February 3, including the weekend) to file the returns with the SOS’s office. The earliest Patrick can sign off on the final certification is February 4th.
What was unreasonable was that the Senate leadership was going to make Brown wait until February 11th to be sworn in. Brown complied with the MA law, won the election, qualified, and has a certified election. All he is asking, at this point, is to rightly and legally take his seat as the Senator from Massachusetts of which Kirk must vacate immediately on the morning of February 4th.