CHICAGO (WBBM) - The Democrats don't appear to be pressing the panic button because of President-elect Obama's early departure from the U.S. Senate.
The resignation, which becomes effective Sunday, leaves the Democrats for the next few weeks with the bare minimum they need to retain majority control of the Senate, and then only if Sen. Joseph Lieberman (Indep.-Conn.) votes with them.
But a spokesman for Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the Senate's second-ranking Democrat, sees no extra pressure to name a replacement quickly, and in fact said it makes little difference. Spokesman Joe Shoemaker said, whether the Democrats have 50 senators or 58 in their caucus, neither party has a supermajority of 60, and said that as a result, the difference is minimal.
The naming of the replacement is up to Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who has said that he intends to name a Senate replacement for the President-elect by Christmas.
Vice President-elect Joseph Biden also must resign his Delaware senate seat, a seat to which he was just re-elected. But he does not need to do so until January 20, by which time the new Senate will be seated.
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