explain the functions and rules regarding filibuster cloture and reconciliation

As a result, the Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 were each passed using reconciliation, which required that the tax cuts expire within the 10-year budget window to avoid violating the Byrd rule in the Senate. However, following the Supreme Court's decision in INS v. Chadha (1983) which ruled that the legislative veto was unconstitutional, Congress revised the law in 1985 to make the joint resolutions subject to presidential veto. "[79] For example, a 2012 proposal by Sen. Jeff Merkley would require that if between 51 and 59 senators support a cloture motion, debate would continue only until there is no opposing Senator speaking. The first Senate filibuster occurred in 1837.

Although not explicitly mandated, the Constitution and its framers clearly envisioned that simple majority voting would be used to conduct business. The status of the tax cuts would remain unresolved until the late 2012 " fiscal cliff," with a significant portion of the cuts being made permanent by the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, passed by a Republican Congress and signed by President Barack Obama. [50], On November 21, 2013, Senate Democrats used the so-called "nuclear option," voting 52–48 — with all Republicans and three Democrats opposed — to eliminate the use of the filibuster on executive branch nominees and judicial nominees, except to the Supreme Court. The supermajority rule has made it very difficult, often impossible, for Congress to pass any but the most non-controversial legislation in recent decades. Republican and Democratic senators alike have taken turns on whether they approve or disapprove of the filibuster (depending on which party is in power) and have threatened to impose what they have started to call the nuclear option — changing the Senate cloture rule to 51 votes, rather than 60. The cloture rule thereby prevents lawmakers from merely stalling for another hour by, say, reciting the Declaration of Independence or reading names from a phone book.

This forces the majority to go through the entire cloture process twice in a row. [72] The House later passed the American Health Care Act of 2017 as the FY17 budget reconciliation bill by a vote of 217-213 on May 4, 2017. Cloture is a procedure used occasionally in the U.S. Senate to break a filibuster.Cloture, or Rule 22, is the only formal procedure in Senate parliamentary rules, in fact, that can force an end to the stalling tactic.

This further reduced the majority's leverage to force an issue through extended debate. [30][31][32][33] As a result, the number of filibusters began increasing rapidly, eventually leading to the modern era in which an effective supermajority requirement exists to pass legislation, with no practical requirement that the minority party actually hold the floor or extend debate. The filibuster is a tactic used in the U.S. Senate to block or delay action on a bill or other measure. "Will Senate Democrats' filibuster reform plan change anything? Lawmakers successfully invoked cloture to end a lengthy filibuster on the matter. If another senator objects, the clerk must continue to call the roll of senators, just as they would with a vote. The minority then felt politically safer in threatening filibusters more regularly, which became normalized over time to the point that 60 votes are now required to end debate on nearly every controversial legislative item. To being the cloture process, at least 16 members of the Senate must sign a cloture motion or petition that states: "We, the undersigned Senators, in accordance with the provisions of Rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate, hereby move to bring to a close the debate upon (the matter in question).". 2013: Senator Paul Rand of Kentucky spoke nearly 13 hours questioning the potential use of drones on U.S. soil. [81], As an alternative to blocking the majority's agenda, some proposals have focused instead on granting the minority the right to have its own agenda considered on the floor. The Senate defeated the idea by voice vote in 2013. ", "A Helpless and Contemptible Body—How the Filibuster Emasculated the Senate", "How the Filibuster Changed and Brought Tyranny of the Minority", "Resolution to amend Rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate", "The Filibuster and Filibuster Reform in the U.S. Senate, 1917–1975; Testimony Prepared for the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration", Understanding the Filibuster: Purpose and History of the Filibuster. Despite these modest changes, 60 votes were still required to overcome a filibuster, and the "silent filibuster"—in which a senator can delay a bill even if they leave the floor—remained in place. The Senate can overcome a filibuster if it invokes cloture — a vote by 60 members of the Senate to place a 30-hour time limit on consideration of a bill or other matter. Cloture, in parliamentary procedure, a method for ending debate and securing an immediate vote on a measure that is before a deliberative body, even when some members wish to continue the debate. He held the floor by reading from plays of Shakespeare and reciting recipes for fried oysters. [18] Despite that formal requirement, however, political scientist David Mayhew has argued that in practice, it was unclear whether a filibuster could be sustained against majority opposition. It was used once in 2001 to repeal an ergonomics rule promulgated under Bill Clinton, was not used in 2009, and was used 14 times in 2017 to repeal various regulations adopted in the final year of the Barack Obama presidency. Reid's appeal was sustained by a 52–48 vote, and the presiding officer then ruled that the Senate had established a precedent that cloture on nominations other than those for the Supreme Court requires only a simple majority. [36] Another tactic, the post-cloture filibuster—which used points of order to delay legislation because they were not counted as part of the limited time allowed for debate—was rendered ineffective by a rule change in 1979. Senator Rand’s intention was to delay the Senate confirmation of John O. Brennan as the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

58, the Constitution's primary drafter James Madison defended the document against routine super-majority requirements, either for a quorum or a "decision": In Federalist No. Nevertheless, in the early 19th century the principle of simple-majority voting in the Senate was well established, and particularly valued by Southern slave-holding states[citation needed]. In 1993–94, President Bill Clinton enjoyed Democratic majorities in both chambers of the 103rd Congress, including a 57–43 advantage in the Senate. The law requires that when a joint resolution to terminate an emergency has been introduced, it must be considered on the floor within a specified number of days. The House kept that rule, but the Senate dropped it from its rulebook in 1806 and didn’t replace it with another, thus leaving open the potential for a filibuster. The first cloture rule allowed for such a move with the support of a two-thirds majority in the upper chamber of Congress. [87] Additionally, after the first two motions pass, but before the third does, senators can offer an unlimited number of motions to give the special committee members non-binding instructions, which are themselves debatable, amendable, and divisible. In 1975, the Senate revised its cloture rule so that three-fifths of sworn senators (60 votes out of 100) could limit debate, except for changing Senate rules which still requires a two-thirds majority of those present and voting to invoke cloture. When the Senate and the House of Representatives convened in 1789, each had a rule known as the previous question motion where only a majority vote was needed to end a debate. [76] It permitted raising the deficit by $1.5 trillion over ten years and opening drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the latter to help secure the eventual vote of Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski who voted against FY17 health care reconciliation legislation. During times of unified party control, majorities have attempted (with varying levels of success) to enact their major policy priorities through the budget reconciliation process, resulting in legislation constrained by budget rules. [13], In practice, narrow majorities could enact legislation by changing the Senate rules, but only on the first day of the session in January or March. [58] However, CRA disapproval resolutions require only 51 votes while a new authorization for the rule would require 60 votes. 1. U.S. Constitution, Article I, Sec. 5, Cl. The most common form occurs when one or more senators attempt to delay or block a vote on a bill by extending debate on the measure. However, due to the difficulty of obtaining a two-thirds vote, the Senate changed the rule in 1975 and reduced the number of votes required to three-fifths (or 60).

The time limitation overrides the normal 60-vote requirement to close debate, and thereby permits a joint resolution to be passed by a simple majority of both the House and Senate. Thus, the presence or absence of cloture attempts is not necessarily a reliable indicator of the presence or absence of a threatened filibuster. In 2009-10, President Barack Obama briefly enjoyed an effective 60-vote Democratic majority (including independents) in the Senate during the 111th Congress. A filibustering senator may endlessly debate an issue, introduce time-consuming procedural motions, or use any other means to obstruct or prevent action.

Quorum calls are meant to establish the presence or absence of a constitutional quorum, but senators routinely use them to waste time while waiting for the next speaker to come to the floor or for leaders to negotiate off the floor. Commentaries in The Federalist Papers confirm this understanding. [89] As a result, a determined minority can cause a great deal of delay before a conference. Until the late 1830s, however, the filibuster remained a solely theoretical option, never actually exercised. The Senate (they must stand the entire time, or they yield the floor and a vote is cast) In 1959, anticipating more civil rights legislation, the Senate under the leadership of Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson restored the cloture threshold to two-thirds of those voting. The effects of the 60-vote requirement are most apparent in periods where the President and both Houses of Congress are controlled by the same political party, typically in the first two years of a presidential term. Senator Robert C. Byrd, Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, "Examining the Filibuster: History of the Filibuster 1789–2008. Cloture became more common only in the late 1970s, according to records kept by the Senate. From 1917 to 1949, the requirement for cloture was two-thirds of senators voting. U.S. Constitution, Article I, Sec. Senator Henry Clay tried to end the debate via majority vote, and Senator William R. King threatened a filibuster, saying that Clay "may make his arrangements at his boarding house for the winter." Cloture is a procedure used occasionally in the U.S. Senate to break a filibuster. The most effective methods of delay are those that force the majority to invoke cloture multiple times on the same measure. One or more senators may still occasionally hold the floor for an extended period, sometimes without the advance knowledge of the Senate leadership. "Statement of U.S. The House does not have a similar measure. 1957: Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina spoke for 24 hours and18 minutes against the Civil Rights Act of 1957. Smith Goes to Washington.” Although fictional, this famous filibuster given by James Stewart goes non-stop for about 24 hours. The notable side effect of this change was that by no longer bringing Senate business to a complete halt, filibusters on particular motions became politically easier for the minority to sustain. Thus, the CRA effectively functions as a "one-way ratchet" against the subject matter of the rule in question being re-promulgated, such as by the administration of a future President of the opposing party.

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