Think Progress ran a story today highlighting Senator Tom Coburn’s (R-OK) habit of obstructing Senate legislation. According to the article, Coburn currently has holds on 80 Senate bills.
On Monday, the Wonk Room reported on Sen. Tom Coburn’s (R-OK) stubborn insistence that the bipartisan President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief bill (PEPFAR) include a wasteful earmark mandating that “55 percent of the money go to treatment programs.” Speaking on the Senate floor, Coburn suggested that his insistence on restoring the mandate saved the PEPFAR program.
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But Coburn is no hero. Far from it. In his three years in the senate, Coburn has earned the reputation of “a fly in the soup,” abusing the senate’s hold privilege - a technique which allows senators to “object to bringing a bill or nomination to the floor for consideration” - to prevent “the Senate leadership” from bringing matters to a vote.
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Currently, “Coburn has holds on about 80 bills” which are “non-controversial, bipartisan bills that he just doesn’t like.”
A hold is a little known parliamentary procedure that allows a Senator to prevent a bill from coming up for a vote, ostensibly to prevent legislation from being rushed through before allowing everyone a chance to thoroughly examine it but is frequently used to hold up votes on legislation that is seen as objectionable.
What is so disturbing about this, beyond the obvious, is how Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has allowed a member of the minority party to exercise so many holds while simultaneously refusing to honor a hold from a member of his own party. Late last year, Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) tried to place a hold on the FISA bill that was working its way through Congress only to have Reid block his attempt, (h/t Glenn Greenwald)
Russ Feingold, today, on the effects of Harry Reid’s pro-administration dirty work:
This morning, the Senate starts debating legislation to expand the government’s surveillance powers.
Unfortunately, the bill we are going to be considering is the one reported out by the Senate Intelligence Committee in October, S. 2248. It did not have to be this way. Thirteen Senators joined me last week in asking the Majority Leader to instead bring up a bill that includes the changes approved by the Judiciary Committee last month. . . .
By choosing the Intelligence Committee bill over the Judiciary product, Senator Reid has made things much tougher for those of us who think the courts — not Congress — should decide whether the companies deserve immunity. He’s also made it an uphill struggle of those of us who want more court oversight of the broad new surveillance powers included in the bill. . . .
We have a big fight on our hands, and unfortunately, the deck is now stacked against us. (emphasis original)
All of this stems from Reid’s refusal to honor the “hold” placed on that bill by Chris Dodd, who has been in the Senate for 24 years. In fairness, though, there are some Senators whose “holds” are treated with great reverence by Reid. (emphasis added)
Begging the question: which side is Reid on? The answer to that goes beyond traditional partisan politics. While there is no doubt there are very real differences between Democrats and Republicans, both parties belong to the firmly entrenched Washington beltway political class making their similarities even more significant than their differences.
–Paul Wilden