Who decides whether Hillary is an "inhabitant"?

[Sanford Levinson]

I take it that there would be a constitutional crisis if Trent Lott and his
friends refused to seat Hillary, in part, of course, because her claim to
be a resident of New York seems at least as strong as Bobby Kennedy's, who
was seated without problem.  It would, therefore, be hard to escape the
view that this is simply a partisan vendetta rather than disinterested
constitutional interpretation.  For better and worse, though, I believe
that Cheney offers us "a case of first impression."  It might still appear
merely a partisan vendetta to refuse to count his vote, but, after all,
that (presumably) would be irrelevant, as a practical matter, if all this
meant is that the Senate would quickly name him Vice-President.  (There is,
obviously, no practical edge if Gore beats Bush and if Texas's votes turn
out to be entirely irrelevant.)  So there is opportunity for a genuine (and
relatively cheap) lesson in "taking the Constitution seriously" with regard
to Cheney that, I think, is absent with regard to seating Hillary.

Sandy