Durbin, 81, Warns Senate Has Abandoned Floor Legislating as He Prepares to Leave Congress
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Oct 9
Durbin, 81, Warns Senate Has Abandoned Floor Legislating as He Prepares to Leave Congress
1 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Oct 9
Summary
Richard J. Durbin said the Senate has largely stopped legislating on the floor, with leaders of both parties steering proposals behind closed doors and avoiding politically risky votes.
Five-term Senator Durbin argued that shift has choked off the amendment fights that once let rank-and-file lawmakers advance major bills, saying his biggest successes came because he had "a shot on the floor."
Forty years after first learning that style of lawmaking in the House — including a win against the tobacco lobby to ban smoking on airplanes — the Illinois Democrat is ending a career that included seven House terms.
Durbin, 81, has served as the Senate's No. 2 Democrat since 2005 and is set to leave as Illinois' longest-serving senator, part of a broader year-end exit of senior figures including Mitch McConnell, Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer.