The action sets the stage for a Senate trial on whether he should be thrown out of office for corruption and abuse of power.

House members found evidence that the two-term Democrat had abused his power, including improperly spending tax money, adopting programs without legislative approval and violating state hiring laws. He’s denied wrongdoing.

The House began impeachment proceedings after federal authorities arrested Blagojevich Dec. 9. He’s accused, among other things, of attempting to sell an appointment to fill President-elect Barack Obama’s vacant U.S. Senate seat for political favors.

Standing amid a huge throng of reporters and television cameras in a cold and steady rain, Burris, 71, declared that he had been informed that “my credentials are not in order and will not be accepted.”

The former Illinois attorney general said he was “not seeking to have any type of confrontation” over taking the seat that he was appointed to by embattled Gov. Rod Blagojevich. But Burris also said he was looking at options for taking the seat.

It was a spectacular demonstration of political gridlock at a time when the Democratic-controlled Congress has been eagerly awaiting Obama’s inauguration while nervously anticipating tense work on a much-discussed stimulus program to steady the faltering economy.

An attorney for Burris, Timothy W. Wright III, said that “our credentials were rejected by the secretary of the Senate. We were not allowed to be placed in the record books. We were not allowed to proceed to the floor for purposes of taking oath. All of which we think was improperly done and is against the law of this land. We will consider our options and we will certainly let you know what our decisions will be soon thereafter.”

Asked what his options were, Wright said there possibly could be a court challenge and he said that Burris also would continue to talk to the Senate leadership.

There had been earlier indications that the Senate would disallow Burris to take his seat, at least in part because his letter of appointment from Blagojevich was not co-signed by Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White.

Some of Burris’ supporters have bemoaned the fact that Democrats would stand in the way of the Senate gaining its only black member. Burris himself downplayed the issue of race, telling reporters: “I cannot control my supporters. I have never in my life, in all my years of being elected to office, thought anything about race.”

Earlier Tuesday, Burris had tense negotiations with Terrence Gainer, the Senate’s sergeant at arms.

“I’m presenting myself as the legally appointed senator from the state of Illinois. It is my hope and prayer that they recognize that the appointment is legal,” he said earlier in a nationally broadcast interview.

Burris dismissed the Senate Democratic leadership’s position that he cannot be seated because he was appointed by a governor accused in a criminal complaint of trying to benefit financially from his authority to fill the seat that Obama vacated after winning the presidential election.

Burriss said his belief is that his appointment is constitutional and that “I have no knowledge of where a secretary of state has veto power over a governor carrying out his constitutional duties.”

Burris also maintained that the announcement by Blagojevich Monday of a date for an election for a successor to Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., proves the governor still has legal authority to carry out his duties. Emanuel will be Obama’s White House chief of staff.

“There’s nothing wrong with Roland Burris and there’s nothing wrong with the appointment,” Burris said.

Burris has found little support among fellow Democrats.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., had said Monday that Burris would not be permitted to take his seat because Burris “has not been certified by the state of Illinois,” a reference to incomplete paperwork that only touches on the dispute. Senate Democrats maintain that Burris’ appointment is tainted because of the charges against Blagojevich.

While Blagojevich has signed formal appointment papers, White has not, and Senate rules require that signature. Burris, in turn, has gone to court hoping to win an order for White to sign the necessary paperwork, and he has also threatened to sue to take his seat in the Senate.

New Mexico governor Bill Richardson is keeping his day job. Selected by Barack Obama to be his commerce secretary, Richardson withdrew his name from consideration due to a grand-jury probe focusing on if his office urged a state agency to hire a political donor.

“Given the gravity of the economic situation the nation is facing, I could not in good conscience ask the President-elect and his administration to delay for one day the important work that needs to be done,” Richardson said in a released statement.

Looks like Obama’s transition team isn’t all knowing and perfect because the grand jury has been going on since August and a few Democratic operatives, all off the record of course, have hinted they had concerns about Richardson from day one.

This mess was dealt with rather quickly but that makes sense. Obama can only be associated with one pay to play scandal.

While we are on the topic of embattled Illinois governor Rod R. Blagojevich, isn’t the man with the hair brilliant? He picks Roland W. Burris, a career pol, to take Obama’s vacant Senate seat. Now Senate Democrats have to explain why they are barring the door to a black guy whose only taint is being picked by Blagojevich. Ohh the racial drama is just too much! Don’t go crazy. It’s filled with nutty hubris but it is entertaining.

The seat became open when Sen. Barrack Obama was elected president. The Illinois constitution gives the governor the sole authority to fill a Senate vacancy.

At a news conference in Chicago on Tuesday, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald reiterated a number of times that there were no allegations of impropriety on Obama’s part.

The FBI affidavit contends that the governor was intercepted on wiretaps last month conspiring to shake people down, and it alleges he even considered appointing himself if he wasn’t offered anything of value.

Blagojevich also was charged with illegally threatening to withhold state assistance to Tribune Co., the owner of the Chicago Tribune, in the sale of Wrigley Field, according to a federal criminal complaint. In return for state assistance, Blagojevich allegedly wanted members of the paper’s editorial board who had been critical of him fired.

“We were in the middle of a corruption crime spree and we wanted to stop it,” Fitzgerald said Tuesday, calling the corruption charges against Blagojevich “a truly new low.”

Federal investigators bugged the governor’s campaign offices and placed a tap on his home phone. Chicago FBI chief Robert Grant said even seasoned investigators were “stunned” by what they heard on the tapes.

Blagojevich spokesman Lucio Guerrero said the governor’s office did not have immediate comment on the charges but issued a statement saying the “allegations do nothing to impact the services, duties or function of the State.”

The 51-year old governor has had a mixed relationship with the state’s gay community, though his sister-in-law is openly lesbian legislator Deb Mell.  

In 2005, he signed legislation prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. That summer he marched in Chicago’s gay pride parade.

Blagojevich opposed an amendment to the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage, saying a 1996 state law that defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman was sufficient. 

He refused to support moves that would allow gays and lesbians in the state to marry, but said he supported legislation that would give limited rights to gay couples.