17:00

A group of former US senators are calling on the men and women they once called colleagues to come together and rise above the partisan moment.

“Congress is not fulfilling its Constitutional duties,” the letter says. “Much of the responsibility rests on the Senate.”

The letter encourages the 100-person body to create a “bipartisan caucus” committed to breaking the partisan gridlock that has paralyzed Congress in recent years.

“The Senate’s abdication of its legislative and oversight responsibilities erodes the checks and balances of the separate powers that are designed to protect the liberties on which our democracy depends,” the letter states.

They write that morale is low and that they’ve spoken to incumbents who have doubted whether there is “any point in continuing to serve” and potential candidates have questioned whether “the reality of Senate membership is worth the considerable effort and expense of running for office.

Among those who signed the letter are former senators Jeff Flake, the Arizona Republican whose criticism of Donald Trump hampered his re-election, Chuck Hagel, a Republican from Nebraska and the former Secretary of Defense under Obama, Heidi Heitkamp, a Democrat from North Dakota who lost her seat in 2018, and Claire McCaskill, a Democrat from Missouri who also lost her seat in 2018.

“Oversight and public policy are responsibilities of the legislative branch,” Hagel wrote in a statement. “This is the Senate’s constitutional duty. Anything less is an abdication of its responsibilities.”

The writers nodded to the deeply partisan reality of the moment, when Republicans’ fear of reprisal from the president has forced many of them to toe the party line.

“We know that accepting this challenge may put some of you at political risk,” they write. “But we are also confident that each of you chose to serve in public life to advance the cause of a ‘more perfect union.’ Our hope is that all of you will accept this challenge to advance that timeless and higher purpose. The Senate—and the proper functioning of our Republic—are simply too important to be allowed to continue on their present course.”