The Senate: Tidying the Toga

Viewed from the gallery, the U.S. Senate falls woefully short of its own billing as the greatest deliberative body on earth. Vital issues are very often resolved casually after pawky debates; speakers drone on in an echo chamber of vacant desks. Delay and confusion abound. Last week Senators tugged valiantly at their togas and amended the rule book in the name of statesmanly decorum.

Two new regulations strike deep at arcane devices dear to the Senate parliamentarians. Many members often feign forgetfulness about whether they voted aye or nay and interrupt roll calls to ask whether their vote has been recorded and how they voted. This is a time-spinning maneuver, enabling habitual latecomers—notably including New York’s Bobby Kennedy and Illinois’ Charles Percy—to vote. Henceforth, this maneuver is out. Instead, Senate clerks will make a “slow call” of the roll, which, its proponents insist, will give laggards at least 15 minutes to reach the chamber.

Voting has also been streamlined to eliminate a senatorial courtesy favoring members absent from Washington by postponing roll calls until their return. Henceforth, votes will be scheduled in their proper order during the regular five-day week.

And as a further step toward dignity, the Senate’s presiding officer must forgo reading or chatting with cronies during some of the august body’s duller sessions. He must now, the rules insist, give the semblance of attending to the proceedings.