substantial benefit to the states. Reform and repeal efforts Notwithstanding controversies over the effects of the Seventeenth Amendment, advocates have emerged to reform or repeal the amendment. Under President Barack Obama's administration in 2009, four sitting Democratic senators left the Senate for executive branch positions: Barack Obama (President), Joe Biden (Vice President), Hillary Clinton (Secretary of State), and Ken Salazar (Secretary of the Interior). Controversies developed about the successor appointments made by Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich and New York governor David Paterson. New interest was aroused in abolishing the provision for the Senate appointment by the governor. Accordingly, Senator Russ Feingold of Wisconsin and Representative David Dreier of California proposed an amendment to remove this power; senators John McCain and Dick Durbin became co-sponsors, as did Representative John Conyers. Some members of the Tea Party movement argued for repealing the Seventeenth Amendment entirely, claiming it would protect states' rights and reduce the power of the federal government. On March 2, 2016, the Utah legislature approved Senate Joint Resolution No.2 asking Congress to offer an amendment to the United States Constitution that would repeal the Seventeenth Amendment. , no other states had supported such an amendment, and some politicians who had made statements in favor of repealing the amendment had subsequently reversed their position on this. On July 28, 2017, after senators John McCain, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski voted no on the Affordable Care Act repeal attempt Health Care Freedom Act, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee endorsed the repeal of the Seventeenth Amendment, claiming that senators chosen by state legislatures will work for their states and respect the Tenth Amendment, and also that direct election of senators is a major cause of the "swamp". In September 2020, Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska endorsed the repeal of the Seventeenth Amendment in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece. Citations General and cited references Wendy J. Schiller and Charles Stewart III (May 2013), The 100th Anniversary of the 17th Amendment: A Promise Unfulfilled?, Issues in Governance Studies, Number 59 May 2013 External links Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution 1913 in American politics Amendments to the United States Constitution Seventeenth History of voting rights in the United States Progressive Era in the United States United States Senate 1912 in American law 1912 in American politics