A movement exists that calls for the repeal of the Seventeenth Amendment, generally opposing it on grounds of federalism and taking away too much power from the states. Proponents of repeal have also accused Senators of being hostage to special interests, the same charge that helped pass the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913. Repeal gained renewed interest in 2004, when U.S. Senator Zell Miller of Georgia, shortly after announcing his intention to retire from the Senate, introduced a resolution in the Senate to repeal the Seventeenth Amendment.

Miller said: Direct elections of Senators … allowed Washington’s special interests to call the shots, whether it is filling judicial vacancies, passing laws, or issuing regulations.

Miller’s resolution never made it out of committee; it has been noted that it is unlikely for Senators elected by the popular vote to back a change to the method that worked for them.