Snowe tells Senate leadership to address procedural rules

Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) sent a letter Thursday to Senate leadership asking them to address procedures currently holding up action in the Senate.

Writing to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Snowe said Senate procedures, such as the filibuster, cloture motion and filling the amendment tree have led to deadlock.

“Regrettably, the current dramatic departure from the normal processes of the past — which has been the subject of recent discussions between you on the Senate floor — is handcuffing the Senate’s ability to respond to the most profound issues that will dictate the future course of our nation,” Snowe wrote.

The Hill reported, Reid and McConnell’s tiff on the floor Wednesday over Reid saying he might change Senate rules if Democrats retain control of the Senate in the next Congress.

Snowe also reiterated her call for the committees to begin working on issues that will have to be addressed in the lame-duck session now, rather than relying on last-minute maneuvering and hasty legislative proposals.

“If we are to regain the confidence of the American people in the direction of our government and our country, it will require the highest levels of leadership re-establishing processes and regular order which will once again allow Americans to look to the Senate as a bastion of thoughtful, reasonable deliberation with the ability to solve the major issues of our era,” Snowe wrote.  “We have an obligation to the American people to demonstrate that we have the capacity to solve these problems at this transcendent time. To do less would be a grave disservice to those who have entrusted us with the public good.”

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