Today, Fix Our Senate released the following statement in response to Senator Ben Sasse’s op-ed in the Wall Street Journal:
Sen. Sasse argues that the way to fix the Senate that Sen. McConnell broke is to make it less democratic, less representative, and less transparent, and to make it harder to pass critically-needed legislation, which would be fantastic satire if it didn’t appear to be a serious proposal. It’s not surprising that Sen. Sasse doesn’t want people to pay attention to his record or votes on critical issues like health care and judges, but his proposed solutions are completely backwards and would move the Senate in the wrong direction.
It’s nice that Sen. Sasses wishes more Senators would spend time hanging out with each other and that he wants to relive his Harvard days in new Senate dorms, but more DC dinners and cocktail parties won’t change the reality that Sen. McConnell would continue to wield the filibuster as a tool of pure partisan obstruction under Sen. Sasse's scheme. Sen. Sasse’s opposition to eliminating the filibuster, a reform that would break through the gridlock and dysfunction to allow a majority of Senators to pass popular legislation, speaks volumes about his actual interest in fixing the broken Senate and delivering results for the American people.
If Senator Sasse would like to live his values and commit to not fundraising while in DC, not running for reelection, and not spending more time in front of the TV cameras, we encourage him to do so.