Barack Obama will resign his Senate seat effective this weekend.
President-elect Barack Obama said today he will step down from his Senate seat effective this Sunday.
The resignation means soon-to-be-ex-Senator Obama will certainly not have any role on the Senate floor in the lame duck session. Instead (and to no one's surprise), he will focus on his transition efforts so that his administration can hit the ground running on January 20.
"It has been one of the highest honors and privileges of my life to have served the people of Illinois in the United States Senate," Obama said in a statement today.
"In a state that represents the crossroads of a nation, I have met so many men and women who’ve taken different journeys, but hold common hopes for their children’s future," Obama said. "It is these Illinois families and their stories that will stay with me as I leave the United States Senate and begin the hard task of fulfilling the simple hopes and common dreams of all Americans as our nation’s next President."
Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich will select Senator Obama's replacement before the end of the year. Illinois's senior senator Richard Durbin has said he would like to consult the governor on the selection, but the choice is entirely up to Blago.
While President-Elect Obama will no longer represent Illinois in whole or in part for the first time since 1996, he will continue to have strong ties to the Land of Lincoln. His Chief of Staff is from here, senior advisers David Axelrod and Valerie Jarrett are from here, and likely more than a few appointees will have ties to the state.
The new president's agenda will certainly be shaped by his time in the state. (See, for example, his plans for urban America.) We look forward to this second President from Illinois making his mark in Washington.
We are sad to give him up, but ready to share him with the nation, and the world. Goodbye, Senator Obama....and hello, President-Elect Obama.