The '''filibuster''' is a parliamentary tactic used by members of the U.S. Senate to extend debate and prevent a bill from receiving a vote on the floor. It first originated in the U.S. in the 1830s, and has been regulated in varying degrees by Senate rules since. Filibustering, for many years, was the primary tactic by which southern senators were able to block civil rights and anti-lynching legislation from coming to the floor. Most recently, the filibuster received attention when the Republican-controlled 109th Congress threatened to end it in an attempt to stop Democrats from blocking President Bush’s judicial nominations. [http://www.gotlinks.com/earticles/articles/87888-what-is-the-filibuster-all-about_.html]#REDIRECT[http://www.suite101.com/external_link.cfm?elink=http://www.law.harvard.edu/students/orgs/jlpp/Gold_Gupta_JLPP_article.pdf][http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/Filibuster_Cloture.htm] ==110th Congress (2007-2008)== In the [[110th Congress]], a group of at least forty-one senators can effectively block a measure from coming to the floor for a vote through the filibuster. Because the Senate generally has no time limits for debate on a particular subject, senators may extend debate indefinately simply by holding the floor Cloture and speaking (about anything). In order to end a filibuster, and force a bill to the floor, a senator must first file a cloture motion signed by at least sixteen senators. The motion is then considered two days later. If it receives sixty votes, then a bill is cleared for a floor vote (which must occur within the next thirty hours of floor time). A motion to invoke cloture on a rule change requires 2/3 (or sixty-seven votes). During the thirty hour window, all amendments presented must be germane to the actual bill and must have been submitted prior to the cloture vote. The [[Senate majority leader]] is provided additional powers during this period, such as the ability to rule amendments or motions out of order. [http://www.gotlinks.com/earticles/articles/87888-what-is-the-filibuster-all-about_.html][http://www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/RL30360.pdf] If a motion to invoke cloture fails, the majority leader may refuse to address any other legislative business until a vote is allowed. Typically, however, this is not the case. [http://www.gotlinks.com/earticles/articles/87888-what-is-the-filibuster-all-about_.html][http://www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/RL30360.pdf] ===Temporary delay=== While sixty votes is enough to bring a measure to the floor, a determined minority of senators can delay a vote for about two weeks. Once a motion to invoke cloture passes, a group can still filibuster the bill itself, requiring an additional cloture motion. At that point, the Senate has another thirty hours to consider the bill again. [[Senate Rule XXII - Precedence of motions|Rule XXII]] limits the use of this tactic, however, for a vote must occur on either the 11th day of consideration or the 15th day after a motion to proceed was made. [http://www.gotlinks.com/earticles/articles/87888-what-is-the-filibuster-all-about_.html][http://www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/RL30360.pdf] ===Senate Republicans turn to filibuster to block Democratic agenda=== Following the [[2006 congressional elections]], Democrats held a 51-49 Senate majority in the [[110th Congress]]. The Republican minority used the filibuster frequently in the first month of the session. On January 17, an attempt to change ethics laws and rules failed after forty-five Republicans blocked it from coming to the floor for a vote. Several days later, the measure passed 96-2 after Senate leaders were able to compromise on their differences. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/17/AR2007011702443_pf.html] *See '''Congresspedia''' page on the '''[[Legislative Transparency and Accountability Act of 2007]]'''. On January 23, forty-three Republicans blocked an attempt to raise the federal minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 over two-years. [http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=2820414] {{Senate record vote|Vote name=[http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:HR00002:@@@S To invoke cloture on a bill raising the federal minimum wage]|Date=January 24, 2007|Vote result=Failed, 54-43|Demvote=47-0 in favor|GOPvote=5-43 opposed|Indvote=2-0|Votenum=23|Congressnum=110|Session=1}} Several days later, the increase was passed 94-3 after several amendments allowing for small business tax breaks were added to the bill. *See '''Congresspedia''' page on '''[[Minimum wage legislation|minimum wage legislation]]'''. On February 5, 2007, forty-six Republicans blocked an attempt by Democrats to consider a resolution opposing President Bush's plan to send an additional 21,500 troops into Iraq. [http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/02/06/news/policy.php] {{Senate record vote|Vote name=[http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:S.470: To invoke cloture on bill opposing Iraq troop "surge"]|Date=February 5, 2007|Vote result=Failed, 49-47|Demvote=47-1 filibusters in favor|GOPvote=2-45 opposed|Indvote=1 opposed|Congressnum=110|Session=1|Votenum=44}} *See '''Congresspedia''' page on the '''[[Troop "surge" in Iraq|Iraq troop "surge"]]'''. ==History== ===Origination=== [[Image:Strom.jpg|thumb|Sen. Strom Thurmond (D-S.C.) filibustered the Civil Rights Act of 1957 for a record 24 hours and 18 minutes]]There was no mention in the [[US Constitution|Constitution]] of a filibuster in either house of Congress. Rather, the document provided both chambers the right to set their own rules for procedure. In the original Senate, there were no filibuster provisions. Following the common practice of the time, including the Continental Congress and the British House of Commons, a simple majority was able to end debate and bring anything to the floor for a vote. [http://www.gotlinks.com/earticles/articles/87888-what-is-the-filibuster-all-about_.html][http://www.suite101.com/external_link.cfm?elink=http://www.law.harvard.edu/students/orgs/jlpp/Gold_Gupta_JLPP_article.pdf][http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/Filibuster_Cloture.htm] In 1806, the Senate re-codified its standing rules for the first time. Acting on the advice of former Vice-President Aaron Burr, the Senate determined that the motion to end debate (by a majority vote) and bring a bill to the floor was not necessary (it had been used only once in four years) and should therefore be eliminated from the rules. It removed the motion, and added no other provision by which debate could be ended to bring a vote to the floor. This created the possibility for a filibuster, whereby a member(s) could continue debating endlessly to block a vote. [http://www.gotlinks.com/earticles/articles/87888-what-is-the-filibuster-all-about_.html][http://www.suite101.com/external_link.cfm?elink=http://www.law.harvard.edu/students/orgs/jlpp/Gold_Gupta_JLPP_article.pdf][http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/Filibuster_Cloture.htm] ===Becomes important took for the minority=== It was not until the 1830s that the filibuster was used as a tactic by a minority in the Senate. It was first seen in the 1830s by Democrats who sought to prevent a Whig-supported bill involving the Bank of the United States from coming to the floor. Though it did not become a common tactic, the ability of any one senator to stop a vote remained in tact until 1917. In that year, isolationist Republicans threatened to use the filibuster to make it more difficult for President Woodrow Wilson to prepare for U.S. entry into World War I. A compromise change in the rules was reached whereby two-thirds of the members of the Senate could vote on “cloture” to end a filibuster and bring votes to the floor. The new rule was first applied in 1919 when the Senate invoked cloture to end a filibuster against the Treaty of Versailles. [http://www.gotlinks.com/earticles/articles/87888-what-is-the-filibuster-all-about_.html][http://www.suite101.com/external_link.cfm?elink=http://www.law.harvard.edu/students/orgs/jlpp/Gold_Gupta_JLPP_article.pdf][http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/Filibuster_Cloture.htm] During the rest of the 20th century, the filibuster was used most frequently by southern Democrats to block civil rights and anti-lynching legislation. In those days, motions to invoke cloture often did not occur immediately after debate on a bill began (as they often do today). This allowed for many long filibusters whereby one or more members would speak for hours. Sen. Strom Thurmond, a Democrat (who later became a Republican) from South Carolina, set the still-standing record for the longest filibuster when he spoke for 24 hours and 18 minutes to stop a vote on the 1957 Civil Rights Act. In 1964, southern senators filibustered the much stronger Civil Rights Act of 1964 for fifty-seven days. [http://www.gotlinks.com/earticles/articles/87888-what-is-the-filibuster-all-about_.html][http://hnn.us/articles/11557.html] [http://www.suite101.com/external_link.cfm?elink=http://www.law.harvard.edu/students/orgs/jlpp/Gold_Gupta_JLPP_article.pdf][http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/Filibuster_Cloture.htm] During the 1930s, populist Sen. Huey Long (D-La.) used the filibuster against bills that he felt favored the wealthy over the poor. The rules did not require that one debate about a subject germane to the bill being filibustered, and Long often read passages from Shakespeare or cookbooks to fill time on the floor. [http://www.gotlinks.com/earticles/articles/87888-what-is-the-filibuster-all-about_.html][http://hnn.us/articles/11557.html] [http://www.suite101.com/external_link.cfm?elink=http://www.law.harvard.edu/students/orgs/jlpp/Gold_Gupta_JLPP_article.pdf] ===Changes to the filibuster=== Beginning in the 1950s, Senate liberals (such as Hubert Humphrey and Walter Mondale) and liberal interest groups (such as Americans for Democratic Action, the American Jewish Congress, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), began attacking the filibuster as anti-democratic and inefficient. In addition, several civil rights organizations placed committee and filibuster reform at the top of their political agenda. In 1951, the NAACP listed filibuster reform as an important step to ending lynching and "equally important as fighting employment discrimination." The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR) "ranked filibuster reform with criminalizing lynching and ending segregation."<ref>Zelizer, Julian. ''On Capitol Hill: The Struggle to Reform Congress and its Consequences, 1948-2000'' (Cambridge University Press, 2004), pp. 44.</ref> The Conference stated, "Until this obstacle is removed, there can be no hope for congressional action against the forces of bigotry."<ref>Zelizer, Julian. ''On Capitol Hill: The Struggle to Reform Congress and its Consequences, 1948-2000'' (Cambridge University Press, 2004), pp. 44.</ref> Writing for the ''New Republic'', Sen. Paul Douglas explained that while filibuster reform seemed to many “a barren and arid matter of parliamentary procedure,” it was a determining factor into whether Congress would ever pass civil-rights legislation. [http://www.gotlinks.com/earticles/articles/87888-what-is-the-filibuster-all-about_.html][http://hnn.us/articles/11557.html] In 1959, in response to these criticisms, Senate rules were slightly modified to allow for cloture with 2/3 present as opposed to 2/3 of the entire Senate. Prior to the Senate's commencement in 1975, [[Senate Majority Leader]] Mike Mansfield (D-Mont.) stated his support for further reducing the requirements for cloture. Since the passage of civil rights legislation in the 1960s, the issue of the filibuster had waned, but after a filibuster of campaign finance reform led by Sen. James Allen, the Democratic majority returned to the issue. Senate liberals, including Mondale, pushed for a "majoritarian" system whereby cloture would require only 50 votes. Mansfield, along with Sen. [[Robert Byrd]] (D-W.Va.), preferred to compromise and make the cloture limit 3/5 (60 votes) rather than 2/3. When the Senate came into session, Sens. James Pearson and Mondale accepted the compromise and proposed to change cloture rules to require 3/5 of the Senate who were present and voting. <ref>Zelizer, Julian. ''On Capitol Hill: The Struggle to Reform Congress and its Consequences, 1948-2000'' (Cambridge University Press, 2004), pp. 173.</ref> [http://www.gotlinks.com/earticles/articles/87888-what-is-the-filibuster-all-about_.html] [http://hnn.us/articles/11557.html][http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/Filibuster_Cloture.htm] The proposal by Mondale and Pearson was contentious and was in fact filibustered itself. During the filibuster, Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, acting as President of the Senate, ruled that the debate over a rule change could be ended with a simple majority. Mansfield opposed Rockefeller's ruling and introduced a motion that was quickly tabled, 51-42, thus endorsing the majoritarian decision of Rockefeller. Conservatives were outraged and Mansfield, Byrd, and Minority Leader Robert Griffin attempted to overturn the precedent. Ultimately a proposal by Sen. Russell Long to change the cloture limit to 3/5 for two years and then revert back to the original 2/3 limit led to a compromise between the two factions to overcome Rockefeller's ruling. The Senate accepted the 3/5 cloture limit by a vote of 56-27. <ref>Zelizer, Julian. ''On Capitol Hill: The Struggle to Reform Congress and its Consequences, 1948-2000'' (Cambridge University Press, 2004), pp. 171-3.</ref> ===The "nuclear option"=== During President Bush’s first term (2001-2005), Democrats filibustered 10 of 229 of his judicial nominations. In 2005, then-Senate Majority Leader [[Bill Frist]] (R-Tenn.) threatened to use the “nuclear option” to stop these filibusters. In this scenario, Republicans could seek a ruling from the chamber's presiding officer, Vice-President Dick Cheney, that filibusters against judicial nominees are unconstitutional. Under this procedure, it would take only a simple majority of 51 votes to uphold the ruling, and only 51 votes to confirm a nominee. Republicans held a 55-45 majority at the time, and this would have almost guaranteed approval of most, if not all, of Bush’s nominees.[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59877-2004Dec12.html] Ultimately, a compromise was reached by a group of fourteen moderate senators (seven Republicans, seven Democrats). Under the pact, Republicans agreed to abandon the "nuclear option," while Democrats agreed not to block all but two of Bush's existing judicial nominees. In addition, Democrats promised not to filibuster future judges (including Supreme Court ones) unless "extraordinary circumstances" were present. [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/05/24/MNG86CTOGI1.DTL] The fourteen senators who struck the compromise soon became known as the "Gang of 14." The following members were part of the group: '''Republicans''' *[[John McCain]] (R-Ariz.)*[[Lindsey Graham]] (R-S.C.)*[[John Warner]] (R-Va.)*[[Olympia Snowe]] (R-Maine)*[[Susan Collins]] (R-Maine)*[[Mike DeWine]] (R-Ohio) *[[Lincoln Chafee]] (R-R.I.) '''Democrats''' *[[Joe Lieberman]] (D-Conn.)* *[[Robert Byrd]] (D-W.Va.)*[[Ben Nelson]] (D-Neb.) *[[Mary Landrieu]] (D-La.)*[[Daniel Inouye]] (D-Hawaii)*[[Mark Pryor]] (D-Ark.)*[[Ken Salazar]] (D-Colo.) <nowiki>*</nowiki>Lieberman became an independent member of the Senate in the [[110th Congress]]. ==Articles and resources== ===Related SourceWatch articles===*[[obstructionism]] ===References===<references/> ===External resources=== *[http://www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/RL30360.pdf Filibuster and Cloture in the Senate]*[http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/Filibuster_Cloture.htm Senate page on filibuster and cloture] ===External articles=== *Julian E. Zelizer, [http://hnn.us/articles/11557.html "Why Getting Rid of the Filibuster Is Still a Good Idea,"] ''History News Network,'' May 2, 2005.*Carolyn Lochhead, [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/05/24/MNG86CTOGI1.DTL “Senate filibuster showdown averted,”] ''San Francisco Chronicle,'' May 24, 2005.*Garry Gamber, [http://www.gotlinks.com/earticles/articles/87888-what-is-the-filibuster-all-about_.html "What Is The Filibuster All About?] ''Got Links,'' December 9, 2005.*Martin Gold and Dimple Gupta, [http://www.suite101.com/external_link.cfm?elink=http://www.law.harvard.edu/students/orgs/jlpp/Gold_Gupta_JLPP_article.pdf "The Constitutional Option to Change Senate Rules and Procedures: A Majoritarian Means to Overcome the Filibuster,"] ''Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy,'' 2005. *Jonathan Weisman, [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/17/AR2007011702443_pf.html "Republicans Halt Ethics Legislation,"] ''Washington Post,'' January 17, 2007.*Thomas Ferraro, [http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=2820414 "Senate Republicans block minimum wage hike,"] ''ABC News,'' January 24, 2007.*Carl Hulse and Brian Knowlton, [http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/02/06/news/policy.php "Senate expected to approve — eventually — resolution on Iraq,"] ''International Herald Tribune,'' February 6, 2007. {{congresspedia}} [[category:How Congress works]]