Mark Paglia: Time for senators to act

I was glad to see Sen. Ed Markey visit Northampton, while many of his Republican peers avoid contentious town halls. While both Sens. Markey and Elizabeth Warren have been vocal in opposing the lawlessness of the Trump administration, there is more that can be done.

The good news is that due to its unusual rules, the Senate makes it easy for a single member to hold up procedures by denying cloture and unanimous consent. The bad news is that so far, no Democrat has been willing to use these powers, for fear of upsetting their colleagues.

That may be understandable in normal times, but normal times these are not. We need our senators to use all of their considerable powers to block Trump’s unconstitutional bills and dangerous nominees, and to use this leverage to shield Americans from the administration’s harm.

Now is the time for all of us in Massachusetts to tell Markey and Warren that talk is cheap, and they need to act with their Senate powers.

Mark Paglia

Northampton