Current Events: The Filibuster - Civics Learning Project

On January 19, 2022, two Senate Democrats joined 50 Republican colleagues in voting down proposed rule changes to the hotly contested filibuster. The 48-52 vote fell short of the 50 votes necessary to change the rule, which aimed to reinstate the “talking filibuster”.

Though the filibuster, a means to extend debate and prevent a vote on matters before a legislative body, has no mention in the United States Constitution, its origins can be traced back to the country’s foundational document. Article I, Section 5 of the Constitution states that “each House may determine the rules of its proceedings.” This language grants both chambers of Congress, the House of Representatives and U.S. Senate, to establish its own procedural rules.

The original rules of the Senate allowed a simple majority of legislators to make a motion to end debate and vote on a matter. This changed in 1805, when Vice President Aaron Burr, citing the need for robust and deliberate debate on all matters before the lawmakers, convinced the Senate to eliminate this rule. The following year the rules were amended and unlimited debate was now allowed within the Senate. Unlimited debate, though rarely used as a legislative tactic, remained available until the presidency of Woodrow Wilson. During the contentious period of World War 1, public pressure grew and the Senate amended its rules to allow an end to debate by a two-thirds vote of present Senators. This supermajority vote to end Senate debate is known as “cloture”.

It wasn’t until the 1960’s, during the debate over the Civil Rights Act, that efforts to amend the filibuster were once again attempted. One such rule borne from this era was the lowering of the supermajority necessary for cloture. The Senate revised the two-thirds vote threshold to what it stands at today, three-fifths (or 60 votes). The second rule change, and more controversial of the two, was the implementation of the silent filibuster. Unlike a talking filibuster, which saw a member of the Senate stall a vote by talking for hours on the Senate floor, the silent filibuster allows a member to block a vote from happening through simply remarking their intention to filibuster and that they have enough votes to support their filibuster. With the silent filibuster rule, a Senator is not required to speak in public to prevent the passage of a bill, and can simply send an email declaring their intention to filibuster.

In more recent history, the Senate in 2013 and 2017 made significant changes to its procedural rules around the filibuster. In both cases the Senate invoked the nuclear option, a procedure that allows the majority party to change a Senate rule with a simple majority vote. In 2013, Senate Majority Leader, Democrat Harry Reid used the option to alter the voting requirements for executive nominee confirmations. Four years later, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell invoked the nuclear option, changing the 60-vote threshold for ending debate on Supreme Court nominees to a simple majority. The passage of certain types of legislation, including the proposed Voting Rights Act, are one of the last few legislative activities in which a filibuster can not be ended by a simple majority cloture vote. Seemingly, the debate over the filibuster and its role in today’s modern Senate will continue for the foreseeable future.

This week’s Current Events resources examine the filibuster. The resources shared provide background and context on the history of the filibuster and cloture, as well as the debate around its role in a democratic society.

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Essential Questions, Vocabulary & Extend the Resources:

What is the filibuster?
Where is the filibuster codified as a rule within the federal government?
What are the goals and objectives of the filibuster rule?
What are the main objections opponents to the filibuster cite as to why the filibuster should be eliminated or reformed?
How has the history of the Senate impacted the filibuster?
In your opinion, has the modern day use of the filibuster aligned with its original intentions? Explain
In your opinion, is the filibuster a democracy-saving tool or an anti-democratic component to the function of the Senate?

Click here for a hardcopy of the Essential Questions & Filibuster Vocabulary

Click here for a hardcopy of the Extend the Resources handout with suggested lesson activities and extensions