Deliberative Body

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Deliberative Body

Written by Kerby Anderson August 22 - 2025

Kerby Anderson

No one knows for sure who called the U.S. Senate the “World’s Greatest Deliberative Body,” but it is often attributed to President James Buchanan. It was the venue where orators like Daniel Webster and Henry Clay delivered great speeches. That is not the U.S. Senate of today.

The senators today spend most of their time voting on routine presidential nominations to the executive and judicial branches. And as I documented last week, they haven’t even been doing that efficiently.

When the Senate does consider legislation, most senators have little substantive input. Bills are crafted behind closed doors and often brought directly to the Senate floor, bypassing committee consideration. Debate in the chamber is truncated and usually tightly controlled.

But perhaps the biggest reason the Senate has become dysfunctional is due to the senators themselves. George Washington law professor Jonathan Turley points to Senator Corey Booker as one reason for the decline of the US Senate. One day he engaged in a meaningless filibuster, and the next day went on a rant about legislation put forward by his fellow Democrats in the Senate.

These Democrats were critical of the fact that he misrepresented the police reauthorization bill and didn’t even attend the committee hearings when the bill was drafted. They rejected his claim that passing meaningful legislation made them complicit with Republicans or the Trump administration.

Senator Booker, along with other Democratic senators and governors, are clearly maneuvering for a presidential run. But their antics and language have cheapened political debate and tarnished the image of a political institution that once was described as the “World’s Greatest Deliberative Body.” viewpoints new web version

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