SCHUMER TO CHAIR SENATE HEARING ON RAPID RISE IN USE OF HOLDS AND OTHER DELAYS TO BLOCK KEY NOMINATIONS

*** MEDIA ADVISORY ***

Wednesday at 10 am: SCHUMER TO CHAIR SENATE HEARING ON RAPID RISE IN USE OF HOLDS AND OTHER DELAYS TO BLOCK KEY NOMINATIONS

Panel Will Examine Large Jump in Obama vs. Bush Executive and Judicial Appointments Held Up in Senate

McCaskill, Wyden, Grassley To Testify About Their Proposal To End Secret Holds

WASHINGTON, DC—U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-NY), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, will chair a hearing on WEDNESDAY, JUNE 23, 2010 at 10 AM on the increased use of holds and other practices to block presidential nominees. The hearing, entitled “Examining the Filibuster: Silent Filibusters, Holds and the Senate Confirmation Process,” will be the panel’s third in a series on the topic of the filibuster.

The first panel of witnesses will feature Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO).  All three have been vocal critics of abuses in the informal practice of holds.  Senators Wyden and Grassley have introduced legislation repeatedly since 1997 to rein in the use of secret holds. Senator McCaskill has been circulating a letter since April asking members to pledge not to place secret holds on legislation or nominations. Currently 68 Senators have signed the pledge.

Additional witnesses will include Thomas E. Mann, a Senior Fellow in Governance Studies and the W. Averell Harriman Chair at the Brookings Institution; G. Calvin Mackenzie, the Goldfarb Family Distinguished Professor of Government at Colby College; and W. Lee Rawls who is on the faculty of the National War College and is an Adjunct Professor at the College of William and Mary.  They will discuss the history of the Senate confirmation process and the impact of obstructionism on nominees, government functioning and the judiciary.

Specific proposals to reform the filibuster will be addressed at future hearings. The first hearing in the series, held April 22, discussed the history and the evolution of the filibuster from 1789 through 2008.  The second, titled “Examining the Filibuster: The Filibuster Today and Its Consequences,” was held May 19th, with Former Vice President and Senator Walter Mondale as the lead witness.

WHAT:     Senate Rules Committee Hearing on “Examining the Filibuster: Silent Filibusters, Holds and the Senate Confirmation Process”

WHO:       Witnesses include:

                   Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR)        

                   Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA)

                   Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO)

                  Thomas E. Mann, Senior Fellow in Governance Studies and the W. Averell Harriman Chair at the

                        Brookings Institution

                 G. Calvin Mackenzie, Goldfarb Family Distinguished Professor of Government at Colby College

                 W. Lee Rawls, Adjunct Professor at the College of William and Mary

WHEN:     Wednesday, June 23, 2010

                   10 am

WHERE:  Russell Senate Office Building

                Room 301

                Washington, DC