MSNBC is currently reporting that Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD) has suffered a stroke. There is no word, currently, on the Senator’s condition. If Johnson were to pass away, or be forced to retire, the US Constitution delegates the task of appointing a replacement to South Dakota lawmakers, who in turn, often turn that task over to the Governor. The Governor of that state, Mike Rounds, is a Republican, and both houses of the state legislature are dominated by Republicans.
Perhaps not: I doubt very much he'd retire under the circumstances, evidently he wouldn't need to. He could simply hold onto the seat regardless of his health.
What's a vacancy? Clearly death or resignation, but history suggests not much else. Serious illness doesn't count.
The Senate Historian's office cites several examples of a senator being incapacitated for years and remaining in office.
Most recently, Sen. Karl Mundt (ironically, also from South Dakota) suffered a stroke in 1969 and was incapacitated, but he refused to step down. He remained in office until Jan. 1973 when his term expired. Mundt was pressured repeatedly to step down during his illness, but he demanded that the governor promise to appoint his wife. The governor refused, and Mundt remained in office.
Another example was Sen. Carter Glass, D-VA. Sen. Glass had a heart condition that prevented him from working for most of his last term after his re-election in 1942. Yet Glass refused to resign, and finally passed away from congestive heart failure in his apartment at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington DC in May of 1946.
Justice Thurgood Marshall also continued to serve in the court despite sufferring major health problems in his last few years. He refused to retire because he didn't want a Republican to appoint his successor.
In the "ACLU vs America", the authors cite reports that Marshall's clerks were basically performing all of his duties as a justice except put on the gown and sit in on oral arguments.
Posted by: Gabriel Sutherland | Wednesday, December 13, 2006 at 05:23 PM
besides, expecting a liberal/democrat to do the honorable thing is an excercise in futility. ain't gonna happen, no matter what. as merely the latest example of this, i give you: willaim "cold hard cash" jeffeson, D., La.
Posted by: larry | Wednesday, December 13, 2006 at 07:48 PM
"william". "jefferson". damn! say....uh.....is there any alcohol in these 'long island teas' i've been quaffing for the last 3 hours? any at all?
Posted by: larry | Wednesday, December 13, 2006 at 07:50 PM