COVID-19 proved that the Senate can run without pages, and some senators say it’s time for the program to end.
The Senate Page Program dates back to 1829 when the first page was appointed by Daniel Webster. addition to the delivery of legislative correspondence, early pages were responsible for refilling ink wells, constructing fires, cleaning spittoons, and fetching chewing tobacco. In 1971, Paulette Desell, Ellen McConnell, and Julie Price became the Senate’s first female pages. Until 1995, the education of Senate Pages was provided by the District of Columbia public schools at a school located in the Library of Congress.
Unfortunately for high schoolers across the country, a bill proposed on April 1, 2022 by Senator Sanders of Vermont may put an end to the program as we know it.
The proposal, which already has support from Democratic and Republican senators, explains that the program costs too much money and that it is better spent elsewhere. In addition, it cites the lack of value that pages add to the chamber in the modern era. “It made sense before computers to have pages running around, but COVID-19 showed us that they are not needed in our digital age” says Miguel Ferrera, a Sanders staffer.
If passed, the program will end in the summer of 2024, giving room for only a few more page classes. The proposal includes provisions for turning Webster Hall, the current residence for pages, into a museum showing the history of the House, Senate, and Supreme Court page programs.
This may be the end for the Senate Page program, but it’s not the end of this April fool’s joke. Hahahahaha, you got played!!!