Dodd Rips Newbies—Ahem, Franken—for Lacking 'Civility'

Chris Dodd battled a perceived lack of decorum in the Senate yesterday with some stern language from the floor. The Connecticut Democrat did not name names but rather cryptically chastised the Senate’s “newer members” for failing “to understand how the Senate has worked for more than two centuries” during the course of the health care debate. Most “newer members” are Democrats.

Dodd may have been targeting Al Franken, speculates the Hill. Fellow Connecticut lawmaker Joe Lieberman asked the Minnesota freshman, who was presiding over the chamber, for some extra time during debate last week, and Franken declined. But Dodd seemed to be going further, though his intention was unclear: “I regret sometimes the newer members who fail to understand the importance of maintaining that which our Founders envisioned when they created this institution." (More Chris Dodd stories.)