Democrats Target Coburn’s Holds
By Kathleen Hunter, CQ Staff
Senate Democrats are setting up a showdown with a thorn in their side: Oklahoma conservative Tom Coburn .

Majority Leader Harry Reid and other top Democrats have decided to bundle an undetermined number of bills that have at least one thing in common: Coburn has blocked them by exercising a hold.

Packaging the mostly unrelated measures would give Democrats a chance to illustrate one of their election themes: The majority must resort to extreme measures to move bills that would be passed easily if Republican obstructionists would allow votes.

“Bills that are non-controversial, that move the country forward, albeit in a small way, are being blocked, and we’re going to have to do something about that,” said Charles E. Schumer of New York, chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

The Democratic strategy, likely to play out during July, will test party loyalties. Republicans will have to decide whether to advance bills they support or stand behind Coburn as he demands the ability to debate and amend bills on the floor.

Coburn said Tuesday he is prepared to dig in his heels and make it tough for Democrats to pass their package unless he is permitted to offer amendments.

“The fact is, if they come to the floor it’s going to take a while to move it if we don’t get any amendments,” Coburn said. “There might be a filibuster or two in real terms.”

In December, Reid, D-Nev., negotiated with Coburn to move a package of public land bills (PL 110-229) that Coburn had threatened to block. Coburn was offered the chance to offer some amendments — although there was no promise made about any specific amendment.

Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin , D-Ill., said Tuesday that Democratic leaders have not promised Coburn he will be able to offer amendments to the planned package.

Durbin said one bill likely to be part of the package is a Reid-sponsored measure (S1382) to create a registry of those suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, better known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Coburn opposes that bill, contending that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention already has the authority to create such a registry. “We’re going to start making decisions that we should have the researchers making — and I’ll fight every one of those,” he said.

Coburn Will Need Help
Durbin estimated that Coburn has holds on about 80 bills, a figure Coburn said sounded accurate.


“These are non-controversial, bipartisan bills that he just doesn’t like,” Durbin said.

No list of Coburn’s targets exists, because Democrats have not taken the steps needed to publicly expose them.

Holds are traditionally recognized as a privilege of individual senators, but the ethics and lobbying overhaul enacted last year (PL 110-81) requires that a lawmaker publicly explain the reasons for a hold within six days of using one to block a bill.

To trigger that requirement, Reid would have to formally try to call up each Coburn-targeted bill on the Senate floor. Coburn then would have six days to identify himself or drop his hold.

But the Democrats’ bid to flush out Coburn’s holds could become difficult as well as tedious. If the Oklahoman got help from some GOP colleagues, they could force the majority to stop and restart the six-day clock repeatedly as one senator dropped a hold on a bill and another senator slapped one on — a tactic known as an “anonymous rolling hold.”

A floor debate in December, during which Reid and other Democratic leaders complained about GOP tactics, provides clues to other bills Democrats might try to free from Coburn’s hit list.

Democrats complained then that Republicans were blocking legislation that would authorize funding for investigations of pre-1970 civil rights crimes (HR 923), expand paralysis research (S 1183) and provide grants for closed captioning of broadcasts (S 675).

The public lands package, which combined dozens of small bills designating new park, wilderness and scenic areas, is the model as Democrats put together their next Coburn-thwarting maneuver.

To ease passage of the public lands measure, Reid promised Coburn the chance to offer a limited number of amendments.

But after the majority leader objected to a Coburn proposal that would have eased restrictions on firearms in national parks, the package stalled for months, prompting Coburn to charge that Reid reneged on their agreement.

Coburn eventually got to offer four amendments — all of which were defeated — but not the guns measure.

Coburn was one of four senators, all Republicans, who ultimately voted against passage of the public lands bill.

This time around, Reid could file a motion to limit debate on taking up the new package and either strike a deal with Coburn to allow specified amendments or, more likely, employ a parliamentary tactic known as “filling the tree” to block amendments. Reid could then file a cloture motion on the underlying bill. If Reid can muster at least 60 votes, he could pass the legislation despite any objections.


One way or another, Durbin said, “We are going to get to a vote.”

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