Senators to Gather in Closed Meeting
Reid Plan Defended as Effort to 'Establish a Dialogue,' but Some See a Bad Precedent

By Charles Babington
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, December 9, 2006

Senate Democrats, who campaigned on a pledge of more openness in government, will kick off the 110th Congress with a closed meeting of all 100 senators in the Capitol.

Sen. Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.), who will be the majority leader when the new Congress convenes Jan. 4, announced yesterday "a joint caucus meeting" for senators only, to be held that morning in the old Senate chamber, a cozy, seldom-used room.

The gathering "will allow senators an opportunity to meet before the Senate is in session and before any official legislative business is considered," Reid's office said. "The American people made clear they are tired of partisanship and gridlock in Washington."

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who will be the minority leader, endorsed the plan.

The Senate's Democratic and Republican caucuses often meet separately and in private for lunches and meetings throughout the congressional session. But meetings of the full Senate that exclude the news media and the public are relatively rare, and most often involve matters of national security or impeachments.

Last year, Senate Democrats used a parliamentary tactic to force a brief closed session to protest delays in the intelligence committee's report on the use of classified information leading to the Iraq war.

Reid's staff said that the planned joint caucus will not amount to a legislative session because no business will be conducted and that it will probably occur before the new Congress officially opens. But Lucy Dalglish, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, called it a bad precedent.

"When you get all 100 members of the Senate in a room, that's no longer a caucus. That's the Senate," she said. "I think the American people will see through that. I think the only way to restore public trust in what the Congress is up to is to have more transparency than less."

In their fall campaigns, which resulted in the takeover of the House and the Senate, Democrats said Republicans were insufficiently transparent in their legislative activities, and they vowed to do better. "I think it's very important we have openness," Reid said on CBS News's "Face the Nation" on Nov. 12. He called for greater congressional oversight, which "means finding out what government is doing."

Reid spokesman Jim Manley said yesterday: "All we're trying to do is establish a dialogue as we start the next Congress. . . . It's obvious from recent years that the current system is not working. We need to foster some different ways to make this place work."

Dalglish said: "If they set a precedent, it becomes easier and easier. Then they say, 'If you want us to get along and be efficient, we have to meet in secret.' "