Why Congress Remains Hostile to Women
The new rule allowing babies onto the Senate floor is a step in the right direction, but nonetheless underscores Congress’s tradition-loving, change-phobic culture.
Poor Orrin Hatch. The guy makes one crack about swarms of infants overrunning the Senate, and suddenly he’s the laughingstock of Twitter.
“But what if there are 10 babies on the floor of the Senate?” the Utah Republican mused last week, as senators dealt with a resolution allowing lawmakers to bring their offspring, aged one year or younger, onto the floor.
The resolution was being pushed by Maile Pearl Bowlsbey—or, more accurately, by her mom, Illinois Democrat Tammy Duckworth. On April 9, Duckworth became the first sitting U.S. senator to give birth. The following week, she needed to be on the floor to cast a vote, and she wanted to
