Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) says 51 Senators have signed her letter pledging to abandon the practice of placing anonymous holds on legislation or nominations.
No Republicans have yet signed on to the letter. McCaskill’s office tells TPM the senator plans to send it to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) at the end of this week. (Reid himself spoke out against secret holds at a press conference on Tuesday — and hinted at referring lengthy holds to the Ethics Committee.)
The Hill reports that Sens. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) have offered an amendment to the financial reform bill which would effectively end secret holds by requiring senators to tell party leaders of their intention — in writing.
Read McCaskill’s letter here.
Below, the list of current signees provided by Sen. McCaskill’s office:
Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO)
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI)
Senator Mark Warner (D-VA)
Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD)
Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT)
Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH)
Senator Bob Casey (D-PA)
Senator Jim Webb (D-VA)
Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
Senator Jon Tester (D-MT)
Senator Mark Udall (D-CO)
Senator Tom Udall (D-NM)
Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH)
Senator Kay Hagan (D-NC)
Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR)
Senator Mark Begich (D-AK)
Senator Roland Burris (D-IL)
Senator Ted Kaufman (D-DE)
Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO)
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)
Senator Al Franken (D-MN)
Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR)
Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)
Senator Daniel Akaka (D-HI)
Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA)
Senator Tom Carper (D-DE)
Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT)
Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND)
Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL)
Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
Senator Daniel Inouye (D-HI)
Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD)
Senator John Kerry (D-MA)
Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA)
Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT)
Senator Patty Murray (D-WA)
Senator Jack Reed (D-RI)
Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV)
Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY)
Senator Arlen Specter (D-PA)
Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD)
Senator Evan Bayh (D-IN)
Senator Joseph Lieberman (I-CT)
Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM)
Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND)
Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI)
Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE)
Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI)
Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-AR)
(h/t The Hill)
Eric Lach
Eric Lach is a reporter for TPM. From 2010 to 2011, he was a news writer in charge of the website’s front page. He has previously written for The Daily, NewYorker.com, GlobalPost and other publications. He can be reached at ericl(at)talkingpoitnsmemo.com
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