Senate GOP Freshmen Shake Things Up

Several freshmen Republican senators are adopting strong parliamentary tactics to advance their policy agendas. And that’s causing headaches for the Senate leadership — Democratic and Republican alike — Politico reports.

Sen. Ron Johnson, who beat incumbent Wisconsin Democrat Russ Feingold last year, forced Majority Leader Harry Reid to withdraw a bipartisan Libya resolution Tuesday as part of his protest against Democrats’ failure to produce a budget.

Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky threatened a filibuster to push closed-door debt ceiling negotiations out into the open.


And senators upset about the loss of their July 4 holiday can thank rookie GOP senators, including Johnson, Paul, Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, and Marco Rubio of Florida. They threatened to force a vote on whether to take a break that would have embarrassed anyone who voted yes.