Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs
Taubman Center

John Hazen White, Sr. Lecture — Laura Dove: The View from the Senate Floor

Tuesday, November 10, 2020

6:30 p.m. – 8 p.m.

Watch on Watson's YouTube Channel. 

Pivotal moments in recent history have all unfolded on the Senate floor — from the confirmation battles over the Gorsuch and Kavanaugh nominations to the transformation of the tax code and the epic clash over repealing the Affordable Care Act. Some call it the world’s greatest deliberative body, while others dismiss the recent Senate as a legislative graveyard — the place where progressive policy ideas go to die. Regardless of the outcome of the November elections, the Senate will play a key role in shaping the courts, the nation’s response to the COVID crisis (and its economic aftermath) and addressing unrest over racial equity over the next four years. Laura Dove will discuss several important questions: What is the role of the Senate filibuster for the President’s agenda?  What are the critical ramifications of which party controls the Senate?  How has the institution changed as a result of polarization and political acrimony? 

The John Hazen White, Sr., Lecture was endowed in 1993 in memory of John Hazen White, Sr., a prominent Rhode Island business leader whose family company, Taco, is currently run by his son, John Hazen White, Jr. The White lecture addresses timely political and policy issues facing the nation.

Laura Dove was elected Secretary for the Minority on August 1, 2013. She was then elected Secretary for the Majority on January 6, 2015, the last in a string of positions on the Senate Republican floor staff. Dove started her Senate career as a page for Senator Strom Thurmond and later as a floor page for then-Republican Leader Bob Dole. After several stints in the Republican Cloakroom and other leadership offices, Dove was appointed Assistant Secretary for the Majority in 2003, and worked on the floor as Assistant Secretary for Republican Leaders Frist and McConnell.

She has a B.A. from the University of North Carolina and an M.A. from the University of Virginia. Ms. Dove is married, has two children, and lives in Alexandria, Virginia.