Today, members of the Congressional Black Caucus met with President Obama at the White House. Members spoke to the press after, and were asked about the absence of Sen. Roland Burris (D-Ill.). The members indicated that the CBC was invited as a group, not individually, and that as a member of the CBC Burris was entitled to attend. They did not respond to questions about whether his status in the Senate came up in discussions with the White House.

Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.), one of Burris' most vocal supporters, said after that Burris should have been present as any others were. Asked by RCP about a new push for a special election that would result in Burris being removed, Rush insisted that it would be too expensive for the state, and was not necessary.

"I think Sen. Burris should not resign," Rush said. "He did not do anything inappropriate, he did not do anything arrestable, he did not do anything indictable."

That lofty standard aside, the Chicago Sun-Times reported today about more previously-undisclosed ties between Burris and former Gov. Rod Blagojevich. The state had hired Roland Burris II as a senior counsel for the state housing authority on Sept. 10, "about six weeks after the Internal Revenue Service slapped a $34,163 tax lien on Burris II and three weeks after a mortgage company filed a foreclosure suit on his South Side house," the paper reported.