"This bill was meant to be a stimulus that was timely, targeted and temporary," Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican minority leader, said Thursday on the Senate floor.
In the interim, a temporary senator would be appointed.
But Mr Blagojevich was ousted by the state legislature, the bumbling Roland Burris became a temporary senator, and basically everyone except for Illinois Republicans have moved on.
Strange, in his role as temporary senator, went to work not just meeting the expectations for Party loyalty that Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell set but exceeding them.
Those qualities could help heal the political rift that erupted here last month when Mr. Kennedy, days before his death, asked the legislature to let Gov. Deval Patrick appoint a temporary senator.
The last thing, therefore, that Governor Deval Patrick, a friend and political ally of Obama, wants to do is burden the president with is an independent-minded, temporary senator who might vote against Hagel.
The governor appoints a temporary senator to serve in the interim.
If Kerry is confirmed as President Barack Obama's next secretary of state, which is expected, Massachusetts law stipulates that it's up to the governor to appoint a temporary senator.
Even under the Obama administration she was placed in charge of the CIA's clandestine operations, although this promotion became temporary after senators intervened.
"Until such time as this Act is repealed, the Governor shall not have the power to appoint a temporary U.S. Senator".
