Make Senate Transparency Great Again

Submitted by Steve Hickey –

November, 5th, 2024 marked a defining moment in American history whereby Americans declared their dissatisfaction with a political regime that had done nothing to address inflation, a porous southern border, exploding deficits, neo-con adventurism, and a host of other cancers plaguing our nation.  To provide substance to their desires, Americans handed control of the Executive & Legislative Branches to Republicans.

Led by former and future President Trump’s America First agenda, things are supposed to be different.  Hamstrung by foe & supposed friend alike in his first term, there was wide acknowledgement that this time wasn’t going to start like last time—key appointments would be thoroughly vetted to ensure alignment with the president, eyes would be wide open for the numerous Easter eggs left by deep state insurgents, and of course efforts focused on facilitating a productive legislative session.

It was therefore very disappointing to see the Republican Senators hurriedly announce a leadership vote before several of the races had been called.  Worse, two of the contenders have covertly, and occasionally overtly derailed the President’s agenda or quarreled with him.  It seems a replay of a bad movie to Republican voters.

In Tennessee, our own Senator Marsha Blackburn has closely and publicly aligned herself with President Trump and the America First movement.  Indeed, her margin of victory in last week’s election mirrored the President’s almost exactly—her voters are the President’s voters.  These citizens rightly expect her to support the President and be a needed legislative ally.

There are puzzling indications this may not be the case.  While conservative stalwarts such as Senators Rand Paul, Mike Lee, and Ron Johnson have unabashedly come out and publicly supported pro-Trump Senator Rick Scott for the leadership vacancy, Senator Blackburn is holding her cards close to her chest.  There are also troubling reports Blackburn may be planning to support Senator John Thune—a Mitch McConnell protege and loyalist.  McConnell has himself been a harsh Trump critic while facilitating dreadful legislation on the border & Ukraine funding.  It’s easy to imagine the apple not falling far from the political tree.

Confounding the situation for all voters is the purposefully opaque manner in which Wednesday’s leadership vote will take place.  Senators will vote via secret ballot so as to have plausible deniability for committing a conservative heresy.  Voters across the nation are sitting up and taking notice.  Social media feeds are currently flooded with broad opposition to this back room chicanery that reminds them that perhaps promised change isn’t actually coming.

This all leads us back to our own recently reelected Senator.  Where does she stand on this leadership vote and why?  The voters not only deserve to know, they have a rightful expectation to know.  If the last several years have taught us anything, it’s that government operating in the shadows always results in a very bad outcome for citizens.  Therefore, in the words of former Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, “sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants.”

Today, Tennessee citizens will rally at Senator Blackburn’s Nashville office and petition her to make her position known regarding the upcoming leadership vote.  We will also ask her to champion the elimination of secret ballots for elected officials subject to public scrutiny.

Senator Blackburn has portrayed herself as an ally of President Trump and a foe to the worst excesses of government.  We call on her to provide needed transparency in this moment and help reassure her voters that the change they voted for last Tuesday is indeed arriving.