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Two More Weeks of Senator Biden -- But Why?
January 05, 2009 12:18 PM
ABC News’ Rick Klein and Z. Byron Wolf Report: Among those who will take the oath of office Tuesday, when the 111th Congress convenes, is a man who has no intention of further service as a member of Congress: Sen. Joe Biden.
Biden, D-Del., was reelected to the Senate on the same day that he and Barack Obama won the presidential election. He plans to be sworn in Tuesday for the seventh time as a senator, even though he’ll resign his seat shortly before taking the oath of office as vice president Jan. 20.
We’ve asked Biden’s office why he thinks it’s appropriate to take an oath for a term he won’t come close to filling out. We will update this posting when we get a response.
Obama, by contrast, resigned his Senate seat shortly after Election Day -- creating the vacancy that is has caused so much controversy in Illinois and beyond.
ABC’s George Stephanopoulos asked Biden last month on “This Week” why he hadn’t resigned from the Senate -- and part of the answer Biden gave was, at best, misleading.
“Two reasons,” Biden said. “One is that, from my perspective, I shouldn't acknowledge it, but being sworn in for the seventh time as a United States senator from Delaware, the greatest honor I've ever had is the people of Delaware electing me. And, and it will in no way effect the seniority of the person who will follow me, number one.
“Number two, there was a period there when it was thought that it may be useful for me to be in the Senate, in terms of some of the votes that were going to be cast in the Senate that may have been very close, that would have been consistent with our incoming administration's position that I could have been voting on those. It turned out that did not occur.”
Biden’s swearing-in for the seventh time will extend a state record that may never be broken. And he could have voted -- but didn’t -- during this post-election period that he’s still been a senator.
But his claim about his decision not affecting seniority isn’t true. If Biden were to resign before Tuesday, his replacement could be sworn in before the other freshman senators. The new senator from Delaware would get seniority over all other newly elected senators -- giving him a better shot at top committee assignments and choice office space.
As it is, Biden’s replacement will move to the back of the line -- at best No. 98 in seniority when he finally gets the job Jan. 20, and lower still assuming the Minnesota recount and the Illinois debacle are still unresolved.
It probably won’t matter much in the long run: Delaware’s governor has said she will name former Biden aide Ted Kaufman to the job, and Kaufman has said he won’t seek a full Senate term on his own.
But in the meantime, keeping the job has allowed Biden -- one of the Senate’s least-wealthy members -- to continue to collect a salary during the transition period. At his annual Senate salary of $169,300, that’s meant another $28,000 so far.
Biden also remains chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. But he told Stephanopoulos that he would immediately yield committee leadership responsibilities to his successor in that post, Sen. John F. Kerry, D-Mass.
UPDATE: Biden spokeswoman Elizabeth Alexander issued this statement to ABC News by way of explanation: "Senator Biden will be sworn-in for a historic 7th term tomorrow. As a sitting Senator, he will be leading a congressional delegation on a fact-finding trip to Southwest Asia -- a trip he is undertaking as the outgoing Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He will resign from the Senate when the trip returns. Regarding seniority, Senator Biden was referencing Senator-designate Kaufman's pledge to not serve more than two years; since there is little consequence to seniority among freshmen Senators, and Sen. Kaufman will not be accumulating seniority for future sessions of Congress, his seniority is irrelevant."
"The timing on his resignation had multiple aspects," Biden's spokespereson continued. "First, after 36 years in the Senate, he had a good amount of wind down and transition to do in his Senate office. Second, he very much wanted to take the oath of office as Delaware's first seven term Senator, as the person chosen by the people of Delaware -- just as Vice President Elect Johnson took the oath of office after he was reelected to the Senate in 1960. And third, he wanted to finish his work as Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, which includes this trip."
January 5, 2009 | Permalink | Share | User Comments (37)
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Looks like Biden and Hillary have one foot in and one foot out. They are leaving the option of returning to the Senate if Obama screws up.
Posted by: CW | Jan 5, 2009 6:36:33 PM
I think FormerDem's right. I actually like Biden a good bit. But I'm a Texan and a current Dem. I think we're probably affectionately predisposed to political smoke-blowers down here simply because we manufacture so many. He does indeed seem reluctant to relinquish one podium and microphone before his next one is ready! Might miss an opportunity to hear himself talk, I suppose. I find the man entertaining as all get-out but I’m often shaking my head at that unharnessed mouth.
HillaryVoter, you, too, are entertaining, though in a slightly more frightening way. I truly think you're cycling through a paranoiac phase and might want to get your med levels checked. The citizenship debate is long over. Time to obsess about something else.
Posted by: Kellybelle22 | Jan 5, 2009 6:37:15 PM
Congress ought to create a law that would bar any sitting senator to run for another office. They should resign their seat before running. Then the people's business could actually get done.
Posted by: Nate | Jan 5, 2009 6:41:55 PM
First I would like to say that the overall story reads more from the perspective of a biased journalist that is also a die-hard Republican, and bears some resentment towards the in-coming administration, and while Biden's answer not what they wished to hear, they do have merrit and validity, not evasive by any stretch of the imagination, and by the way, kind of like the reporter eluded to possible wrong doing, "We will update this posting when we get a response", I can see it is time for and independent source such as the one I represent to place ABC on the "Watch List" for inaccurate and biased storylines.
Posted by: therealbmfwic | Jan 5, 2009 6:43:16 PM
Really, what difference does it make? Who cares! He got the win from his state; so let him collect, then resign when he moves to VP. So what if the next guy is last in seniority. He wouldn't even have it if Biden didn't win the VP slot. This is a waste of ink to print about.
Posted by: Cindy | Jan 5, 2009 7:04:20 PM
The answer that Biden will be there is obvious. So he can link arms with Reid, Pelosi, and the others who are determined to assert their right to pack the Senate with their choice for office by accepting or rejecting members, not just for having done anything wrong, but for potentially having done something wrong. If that's true, they should immediately reject that admitted adultering perjurer, Bill Clinton, if he is appointed to the Senate.
Posted by: Publius | Jan 5, 2009 7:21:24 PM
STU - the problem is that the new Senate session starts NOW. It is a disservice to the citizens of Delaware to have Biden's replacement to have seniority slot # 100 out of 100.
Posted by: ellsbells930 | Jan 5, 2009 8:01:56 PM
All these sourpusses notwithstanding, I LOVE Joe Biden, one of the nicest guys in politics! We are so blessed to have him at Obama's side! Whatever he thinks is best about his resignation date is his business and his right. He has earned the affection and respect of his fellow senators and the state of Delaware.
Posted by: phoenician lady | Jan 5, 2009 8:07:29 PM
All these sourpusses notwithstanding, I LOVE Joe Biden, one of the nicest guys in politics! We are so blessed to have him at Obama's side! Whatever he thinks is best about his resignation date is his business and his right. He has earned the affection and respect of his fellow senators and the state of Delaware.
Posted by: phoenician lady | Jan 5, 2009 8:07:32 PM
simple more terms more retirement money- number 1 rule of politics follow the money
Posted by: gaius | Jan 5, 2009 8:12:31 PM
Joe Biden's the greatest; I don't care what any of the right-wing sore losers on this site have to say to the contrary! He's earned the right to serve as senator for the next two weeks, and his fact-finding mission to Asia can only HELP our country & the new administration by providing more first-hand facts. Biden is truly a man of the people, being the most down-to-earth public servant we've had in Congress since Davy Crockett! And, yes, it IS patriotic to cheerfully pay your taxes. Anything less is selfishness.
Posted by: realvalues | Jan 5, 2009 9:17:47 PM
phoenician lady - You LOVE Joe Biden? I guess to each his own.... but loving a liar?
Posted by: ellsbells930 | Jan 5, 2009 10:32:53 PM
phoenician lady: your comment was so good it was worth printing twice! ellsbells930: there's a difference between slipping on facts and deliberate deceptions
Posted by: realvalues | Jan 5, 2009 11:30:22 PM
ROFLMAO
Formerdem - I here and now out you as having NEVER been a democrat. EVER.
Oh My I just been biotch slapped on the internet.
And here is another tinkerbell living in liberal Never Never land
Joe Biden's the greatest; I don't care what any of the right-wing sore losers on this site have to say to the contrary! He's earned the right to serve as senator for the next two weeks, and his fact-finding mission to Asia can only HELP our country & the new administration by providing more first-hand facts. Biden is truly a man of the people, being the most down-to-earth public servant we've had in Congress since Davy Crockett! And, yes, it IS patriotic to cheerfully pay your taxes. Anything less is selfishness.
Joe Biden has a constituancy of one, Himself.
Posted by: formerdem | Jan 5, 2009 11:32:19 PM
Ha,ha, ha... These politicians are so weird. They have it made...
Posted by: Janeyre | Jan 6, 2009 12:19:38 AM
realvalues - plagiarism is 'slipping on facts'???? I'd call it lying & stealing.
Posted by: ellsbells930 | Jan 6, 2009 6:32:58 AM
We might not know ole Joe's replacement yet but we do know he or she will be bought and paid for by MBNA the same as Biden. He's been one of the best senators money can buy. That's why we own the credit card industry here in Delaware. Don't like your 30% rate? Thank the new VP. Ha ha ha ha!!!
Posted by: DelawareDweller | Jan 6, 2009 7:47:39 AM
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