Sen. Ben Sasse is making an argument that big changes are needed to make the Senate functional.
“The Senate in particular is supposed to be the place where Americans hammer out our biggest challenges with debate. That hasn’t happened for decades — and the rot is bipartisan,” the Nebraska Republican wrote in a Tuesday op-ed for the Wall Street Journal.
Among the changes Sasse proposed was the repeal of the 17th Amendment. Ratified in 1913, the amendment ended the practice of state legislators electing senators to send to Washington. Instead, senators are now elected directly by the people.
“The old saying used to be that all politics is local, but today — thanks to the internet, 24/7 cable news, and a cottage industry dedicated to political addiction — politics is polarized and national,” the senator wrote.
Sasse also argued that cameras should be taken out of committee meetings, standing committees should be abolished in favor of more narrowly focused short-term committees, senators should live together dormitory-style while in session, and they should actually attend floor debates.
In one of his proposals that has gotten the most play on social media, Sasse suggested that senators be elected to one 12-year term. “Lawmakers are obsessed with staying in office, and one of the easiest ways to keep getting re-elected is by avoiding hard decisions,” he wrote.
“These aren’t partisan proposals, because congressional dysfunction isn’t a partisan problem. Lawmakers — Republicans and Democrats — don’t make laws. Over years, Congress made the choice to shirk its duty and cede power to the executive branch. Recovery will be hard, but it’s time for Congress [to] build some muscle and figure out how to serve the American people by doing our constitutionally mandated jobs again,” Sasse said.
