Proposals to Reform “Holds” in the Senate

Walter J. Oleszek
Senior Specialist in American National Government

"Holds" are an informal senatorial custom unrecognized in Senate rules or precedents. They allow Senators to give notice to their respective party leader that certain measures or matters should not be brought up on the floor. Implicit in the practice is that a Senator will object to taking up a bill or nomination on which he or she has placed a hold. The Senate's majority leader, who exercises primary responsibility for determining the chamber's agenda, traditionally in consultation with the minority leader, is the final arbiter as to whether and for how long he will honor a hold placed by a Member or group of lawmakers.

The exact origin of holds has been lost in the mists of history. Their ostensible purpose is to provide advance notice to Senators as to when a measure or matter, in which they have expressed an interest by placing holds, is slated to be called up by the majority leader. However, since the 1970s, holds came into greater prominence in the Senate as more Members began to employ holds as a way to try to accomplish their policy or political objectives.

In a Senate with a large and complex workload, and more dependent than ever on unanimous consent agreements to process its expanding business, holds provide significant leverage to Members who wish to delay action on legislation or nominations. Given the heightened potency of holds, there have been many initiatives over the years to reform the Senate's hold practices.

This report examines, over a more than three-decade period, a wide range of proposals to reform holds. In general, the objective of these recommendations is not to abolish holds but to infuse more accountability, uniformity, and transparency in their use and to make it clear that holds are not a veto on the majority leader's prerogative of calling up measures or matters. The historical record underscores that it has been difficult to revise a practice, now a regular feature of the Senate's workways, that provides parliamentary influence and leverage to every Senator. The reform proposals examined are as follows:

(1) Impose time limits
(2) Abolish holds
(3) Uniform procedure for holds
(4) No indefinite, or permanent, holds
(5) Prohibit blanket holds
(6) End secret holds
(7) Require more than one Senator to place a hold
(8) Permit a privileged resolution to terminate holds
(9) Restrict filibuster opportunities
(10) Determination by majority leader to proceed


Date of Report: July 15, 2010
Number of Pages: 20
Order Number: RL31685
Price: $29.95

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