It’s actually going to happen:

WASHINGTON – Eager to put the scandal-tainted standoff behind them, Senate Democrats accepted Roland Burris as President-elect Barack Obama’s Senate successor on Monday and said they expect to swear in the new Illinois senator this week.

“He is now the senator-designate from Illinois and, as such, will be accorded all the rights and privileges of a senator-elect,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois said in a joint statement.

At a news conference in Chicago, Burris called himself honored and humbled to be the state’s next junior senator. “I’m thankful for the opportunity to serve,” he said and added: “I recognize that my appointment triggered a challenging time for many.” …

Reid and Durbin said they now anticipate that Burris, a formerIllinois attorney general, will be seated this week, barring objections from Republicans.

They made the announcement after Burris’ lawyers delivered to the Capitol documents certifying his appointment to Obama’s seat, and thesecretary of the Senate determined that the paperwork met Senate requirements.

While a victory for Burris, the move is a major reversal for Senate Democrats.

They initially indicated they would refuse to seat Burris and objected to the appointment by Blagojevich, who is accused by federal investigators of seeking to trade the Senate seat for personal favors.

Senators feared that any appointee would be tainted. …

Reid spokesman Jim Manley said Monday that Reid doesn’t intend to have the Rules Committee review Burris’ appointment, and that the Senate will vote on the appointment by unanimous consent unless there is an objection that would trigger a roll call vote.

From Illinois to Washington, Republicans assailed Senate Democrats for how they handled the issue.

Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, who is leading the Senate GOP’s election efforts, accused them of “arrogant mismanagement” and said: “This entire situation has been a national embarrassment that could have been avoided.” He pledged to make winning the Illinois Senate seat a top priority for Republicans in 2010.

Illinois Republican Party Chairman Andy McKenna added: “Democrats chose to trust a madman over the people of Illinois” by seating Burris instead of blocking Blagojevich’s appointment and holding a special election. …

After lawyers for Burris and the Senate met for under an hour in the Capitol to review the documents, Reid and Durbin issued the statement that they were satisfied both with the documents and with Burris’ testimony before the impeachment panel that he did nothing wrong.

From RedState.com:

There was no way that the GOP was going to get in the way of the Democrats currently chainsawing themselves over this, of course: Allahpundit has the timeline, as well as the helpful observation that the Senate, the Illinois Democratic Party, and President-Elect Obama got smacked around good and hard by a deeply unpopular Democratic Governor who is looking at spending a large portion of the rest of his life behind bars. And, bluntly? Rod Blagojevich made it look easy. In other words, the Democrats have fully embarrassed themselves on this one, and everybody knows it.

So roll on 2010. Because now the Democrats are stuck with Blagojevich appointee Burris in that seat.

CNN is also reporting.

-Phil