Tammy Baldwin earns Senate ‘golden gavel’

All those extra hours of Senate session recently have a silver lining —  or make that gold — for Sen. Tammy Baldwin.

The Wisconsin Democrat is the first frosh to snag the chamber’s “golden gavel” award, bestowed on senators who’ve spent 100 hours presiding over the chamber — a duty that involves lots of rule-consultation, roll-call-ordering, and the occasional banging of a (non-golden) gavel to create order on the floor. The Loop had reported that she was leading the freshman class in its informal derby to see who could cross the 100-hour mark first. (Hey, they’re competitive types.)

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid praised Baldwin’s fortitude. “We have not had a harder working senator,” he said, admitting that some of the time she served in the chair might not have “been too much  fun.”

And no matter how dull things can get in the Senate, at least she hasn’t fallen asleep in the chair, as Rep. George (R-N.C.) Holden apparently did yesterday.