Jan. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Democrats Al Franken and Roland Burris won’t be permitted to claim U.S. Senate seats as the new Congress convenes today for a ceremonial swearing in.

Minnesota’s canvassing board said yesterday that Franken won a two-month recount by 225 votes. Incumbent Republican Norm Coleman has vowed to challenge the result in court. Under Minnesota law, Franken can’t be officially declared a winner until the legal challenge is resolved. A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said last night that Franken wouldn’t be seated today.

Burris, 71, was appointed by Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich to the seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama. He arrived at the U.S. Capitol today, asserting he is entitled to the post. Reid says the appointment is tainted because Blagojevich is accused of trying to auction the job for cash or other favors.

“I’m certainly presenting myself as a legally, duly appointed United States senator from the state of Illinois this morning. I’m qualified,” Burris said in an interview on CBS’s “Early Show.” He later headed to the Capitol.

Barring a last-minute deal, Reid is refusing to let Burris take the seat.

Franken, 57, a comedian and author turned politician, said yesterday from the stoop of his Minneapolis home that he is “proud and humbled to stand before you as the next senator from Minnesota.”

Two Seats Short

The delay in filling the vacancies means Democrats are deprived of two votes in the Senate as Obama prepares to take office and seeks to enact an economic stimulus, an overhaul of health care and new laws to curb climate change. Senate Republicans, who control 41 seats, have the ability to block legislation from coming to a vote.

Though Burris planned to be on Capitol Hill in time for today’s swearing in, Illinois Senator Dick Durbin said the appointee understands he won’t be allowed on the Senate floor and invited him to watch the ceremony on television in Durbin’s office.

“He’s told me repeatedly that he doesn’t want to create a confrontation,” Durbin said of Burris.

In Minnesota, Coleman refused to concede the race and his lawyer said he will file a legal challenge within 24 hours. “This process isn’t at the end,” said attorney Tony Trimble. “It is now just in the beginning.”

Urging Concession

“The race in Minnesota is over,” Reid told reporters in Washington yesterday, urging Coleman to acknowledge Franken’s victory.

Republicans said Franken shouldn’t be seated until Coleman’s court challenge is over. Franken spokeswoman Jess McIntosh wouldn’t comment on when Franken planned to come to Washington.

Texas Republican John Cornyn, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said he would fight any attempt by Reid to seat Franken before the legal case is settled.

“I expect Republicans will stand in the way of his desire to play kingmaker in deciding the next senator from Minnesota,” Cornyn said of Reid in an e-mailed statement.

Jim Manley, a spokesman for Reid, said in a statement last night that “there will not be an effort to seat Mr. Franken tomorrow.”

Minnesota Canvassing Board member Kathleen Gearin in St. Paul defended the decision to announce the results favoring Franken.

“We have acted in recognition that every vote is sacred,” she said. Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Richie said the results are “as accurate as was humanly possible.”

Too Close to Call

After the Nov. 4 election, Franken and Coleman were separated by just a few hundred votes out of 2.9 million cast for all candidates including minor party contestants, forcing a recount.

Including Franken and Burris, Democrats would hold a 59-41 margin in the Senate, just one shy of the number needed to shut off filibusters that can delay action on legislation indefinitely.

Vice President-elect Joe Biden’s Delaware seat will go to Democrat Ted Kaufman, appointed to the vacancy by that state’s governor. In Colorado, Michael Bennet, Denver’s public schools superintendent, was appointed to the Senate seat being vacated by Democrat Ken Salazar, who is in line to be Obama’s interior secretary.

New York Governor David Paterson hasn’t named a replacement for Senator Hillary Clinton, Obama’s chief rival for the Democratic presidential nomination and his choice to be the next secretary of state. Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of President John F. Kennedy, is a leading candidate to succeed Clinton.

To contact the reporter on this story: Christopher Stern in Washington at cstern3@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: January 6, 2009 10:34 EST