Saturday, January 29, 2011

Senate passes McCaskill resolution to stop secret holds

Today the U.S. Senate passed a bipartisan initiative, led by U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill, to end the practice of allowing senators to place secret holds on legislation or nominations. The measure, introduced with Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR), Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Susan Collins (R-ME), would require public disclosure in the Congressional Record within 48 hours of an objection being made by any senator to legislation or nominations. The measure passed by a vote of 92-4.

“Today’s vote was an important step forward in the fight to reform the way Washington does business. No longer will senators be able to hold up legislation anonymously. From now on, they’re going to have to own it,” McCaskill said. “We’ve been sent here to do the people’s business and the American people deserve greater transparency and accountability.”

Over the past year, McCaskill has repeatedly encouraged her colleagues to join her in stopping senators from being able to anonymously hold legislation and nominees without public explanation. Last year, 68 senators signed on to a letter pledging to no longer participate in the secretive and often-abused practice. Senators Wyden and Grassley have been working on this issue for many years and last July introduced legislation with McCaskill and Senator Collins to change the Senate rules to require that a senator claim responsibility for a hold 48 hours after an objection is raised to the passage of a nominee or piece of legislation.

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