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Who would block legislation promoting more openness in government, especially when it has strong bipartisan support? At the moment it's an unnamed U.S. senator who, some watchdog groups believe, has a hidden agenda. Whatever that agenda may be, the tactic tarnishes the integrity of an institution that needs to update itself.
The senatorial hold is an arcane custom so secret it's not even part of the Senate rules. It allows any senator to delay legislation, or a presidential appointment, indefinitely. And it can be done secretly, although often the perpetrator's identity is known. If holds have sometimes stopped something bad from happening, more often they serve a single lawmaker's agenda while obstructing the public's business.
A bill sponsored by Republican Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and Democrat Barack Obama of Illinois would create a database that anyone could tap into to find out who wins government contracts, grants and loans for how much and on what terms. That process last year consumed $2.5 trillion of taxpayer funds. The bill sailed through the Senate Homeland Security Committee by voice vote and seemed headed for passage. But then came the hold, whose motive remains unclear.
The bill's sponsors say they expect it ultimately to be freed for a vote in the full Senate. One must hope so. But the tactic itself should be banned as the anachronism it is.
Retired Sen. Jesse Helms was a master of the hold, often delaying appointments out of ideological animus or personal pique or as leverage on an unrelated issue. One example was Helms' successful attempt to bury the U.S. Information Agency inside the State Department, thus weakening it and undermining its reputation as an agency performing a service best kept at arm's length from the policy process.
Permitting holds panders to the vanity of senators with motives that do nothing to enhance the integrity of the institution. Seasoned diplomats have had their careers stalled or, in some cases, ended prematurely just to indulge that vanity. A few senators have sought to bar holds, but every attempt has gone nowhere. This refusal perpetuates the triumph of form over substance, which at this troubled moment in our history we can ill afford.
The senatorial hold is an arcane custom so secret it's not even part of the Senate rules. It allows any senator to delay legislation, or a presidential appointment, indefinitely. And it can be done secretly, although often the perpetrator's identity is known. If holds have sometimes stopped something bad from happening, more often they serve a single lawmaker's agenda while obstructing the public's business.
A bill sponsored by Republican Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and Democrat Barack Obama of Illinois would create a database that anyone could tap into to find out who wins government contracts, grants and loans for how much and on what terms. That process last year consumed $2.5 trillion of taxpayer funds. The bill sailed through the Senate Homeland Security Committee by voice vote and seemed headed for passage. But then came the hold, whose motive remains unclear.
The bill's sponsors say they expect it ultimately to be freed for a vote in the full Senate. One must hope so. But the tactic itself should be banned as the anachronism it is.
Retired Sen. Jesse Helms was a master of the hold, often delaying appointments out of ideological animus or personal pique or as leverage on an unrelated issue. One example was Helms' successful attempt to bury the U.S. Information Agency inside the State Department, thus weakening it and undermining its reputation as an agency performing a service best kept at arm's length from the policy process.
Permitting holds panders to the vanity of senators with motives that do nothing to enhance the integrity of the institution. Seasoned diplomats have had their careers stalled or, in some cases, ended prematurely just to indulge that vanity. A few senators have sought to bar holds, but every attempt has gone nowhere. This refusal perpetuates the triumph of form over substance, which at this troubled moment in our history we can ill afford.
