The History of the Filibuster

It’s a beautiful night for a filibuster. Senator Hary Reid is threatening to keep the Senate working all night (gasp!) if the Republicans do not allow his amendment to come to a vote.

According to the Senate’s history website, the word filibuster comes from a Dutch word meaning “pirate.” In the early days of Congress, both the House and the Senate had filibuster procedures. As the House got bigger, it adopted rules limiting debate to topics that were germane to the motion at hand. The House closes every two years when their terms expire and essentially has to reinvent itself on the first day of the new session (it doesn’t take long). The Senate, on the other hand, always has 2/3 of the Senators returning and so it essentially maintains it’s standing rules unless it votes to change them. In 1917, the Senate adopted Rule 22 which allows the Senate to end a filibuster by a vote of 2/3 majority known as “cloture.” In 1975 the Senate changed the rule to reduce the cloture requirement to 3/5 majority (60 votes). The Republicans who are threatening to filibuster the current amendment are part of a long tradition. After all, it was the method of choice for southern Senators who tried to block the Civil Rights Act of 1964. That filibuster lasted 57 days. Tonight’s sleepover doesn’t even come close to breaking the record for the longest filibuster speech by a single Senator. That “honor” goes to J. Strom Thurmond, who spoke against the Civil Rights Act of 1957 for over 24 hours. Although I’d love to see the Senate settle the amendment in question, I have to partly agree with Senator Mitch McConnell who called Senator Reid’s threat “political theater.” That is, unless they keep going past Wednesday morning. I’m quoting from the Senate’s own handbook on filibusters and cloture: “The Senate’s daily schedule normally is arranged so that filibusters are not unduly disruptive or inconvenient to Senators. . . Senators are less willing to endure the inconvenience and discomfort of prolonged sessions.” I say, make them talk until they drop. After all, it’s not like they’ll be doing much else. A GovTrack report showed that Congress hasn’t even passed half the number of bills in the last six months that they normally would for this period of time.