April 19, 2018

Senate actually agrees on something

Slate -Motivated by the birth of Sen. Tammy Duckworth’s daughter last week, on Wednesday night the Senate passed by unanimous consent a rule change allowing lawmakers to bring infants onto the Senate floor. It is the first Senate rule change since the 1970s.

Sen. Duckworth, who submitted the resolution, had said she was worried that the rule that barred senators from voting by proxy could make it difficult as the mother of an infant to participate in votes, which can sometimes last hours, particularly while breastfeeding.

There are now a record 23 women serving in the senate. Duckworth was the first ever sitting senator to give birth.

No comments: