A new congressional proposal to restore state legislature selection of U.S. senators deserves conservatives’ support.
The Founding Fathers never intended for Americans to vote for their own senators. Rather, they considered it essential that state governments have representation in the federal government through the U.S. Senate. That is why, from 1789 to 1913, not a single American cast a ballot for U.S. Senate. For more than 100 years, senators were chosen by state legislatures. This all changed with the 17th Amendment, which changed senatorial elections to direct popular vote, following state-level reforms in the years prior.
One new proposal would change it back. In June, Representative Keith Self of Texas proposed legislation to repeal the Seventeenth ...
