Illinois House votes to impeach Blagojevich

By Michael Conlon and Andrew Stern

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The Illinois House of Representatives impeached Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Friday for abuse of power, including a charge that he tried to sell President-elect Barack Obama's former U.S. Senate seat.

Blagojevich dismissed the impeachment, the first ever of an Illinois governor, blaming it on long-standing conflicts with House lawmakers. He repeated he had committed no wrongdoing.

The Democratic-controlled House voted 114-1 to impeach the two-term Democrat. That clears the way for a trial in the state Senate, where conviction by more than two-thirds of its members would result in his removal from office.

The scandal kept Obama's former Senate seat in limbo.

Illinois' senior senator, Democrat Dick Durbin, said an Illinois Supreme Court ruling on Friday that allowed a state official to withhold his signature from Blagojevich's appointment of Democrat Roland Burris meant the seat would have to remain vacant for now.

The court ruled the appointment of Burris was valid without Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White's signature, but Durbin said Senate rules required the signature before Burris could be seated.

No one should be seated until the impeachment proceedings are over and the governor's successor can make a new appointment, Durbin said.

Rep. Barbara Currie, a Chicago Democrat who headed the inquiry committee that recommended impeachment, told the House that Blagojevich had betrayed the public trust, "a public servant who has chosen not to serve the public ... who has betrayed his oath of office ... who is not fit to govern."