Anonymous Republican Has Secret Hold On Senate Campaign Disclosure Bill

An anonymous Senae Republican has placed a "hold" on a bill by Sens. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) and Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) to require Senate campaigns to file disclosure reports electronically. This is not going to make any reporter who has looked throught these reports happy.

Here's Feingold statement on the secret hold, and I can guarantee you that I will find out who placed the hold and why:

"“I am disappointed that a Republican Senator has chosen to block my bill to require Senate campaign reports to be filed electronically. This bill has bipartisan support in the Senate and significant support around the country, from editorial boards to bloggers on both the left and the right.  I am aware of no opposition to it at all. I do not understand why someone in this body would block a bill that simply brings the Senate filing process into the 21st century, and do so anonymously and without explanation.”

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who as chairwoman of the Rules and Administration Committee has pushed this bill, had this to say on the Senate floor about the secret hold:

“I am urging the Senate to refrain from holding this bill hostage over other campaign finance battles that have been going on for years.This is exactly the type of good government law that the Senate could adopt as a stand alone measure. And I hope we can move the legislation without burdening it with extraneous items that will hold up passage. It’s long past time to bring the Senate into the modern era.”