Senate Republicans on Thursday blocked the nomination of Goodwin Liu for an appeals court judgeship, accusing him of being a liberal activist and handing President Obama his first judicial defeat of the year. The Republican-led filibuster also may signal the end of January's gentlemen's agreement between the Senate's party leaders designed in part to streamline the judicial confirmation process.
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Senate, which once prided itself as "the world's greatest deliberative body," finds itself transformed these days into a dysfunctional legislative chamber, unable to pass a budget, confirm judicial appointments or, in the view of Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, agree the sky is blue. Some lawmakers, and those who keep a keen watch on the activities in the nation's capital, are viewing the legislative tool known as the filibuster with a jaundiced eye, insisting the requirement each bill attract support from three-fifths of those voting before it can even be considered is proving detrimental to the process. The Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law last year issued a report concluding the filibuster renders the Senate un...
The filibuster is named after pirates who sailed the Spanish Main in small vessels called "filibots," giving them power beyond their size. It was the Republicans' own former majority leader, Trent Lott, who dubbed ending it the "nuclear option." Currently, Senate Rule 22 (the "filibuster rule") requires both a three-fifths majority vote to end debate (60 votes) and a two-thirds vote to amend the Senate rules (70 votes). The "nuclear option" would have substituted a majority vote for the current three-fifths requirement to end debate and simply ignore the two-thirds vote requirement to amend the rule. When the Senate first met in 1789, it adopted "Jefferson's Manual," which included a motion to "raise the previous" question and cut off debate. The Senate revised its rules in 1806, and at...
As a devoted and loyal American citizen, I have been disappointed with the actions of the U.S. Senate on the use of the filibuster. The Republican Senate members have abused this important provision of our legislative process, and it needs revision. Our Constitution clearly states that each house may determine the rules of its proceedings before the start of every new session of Congress. The Senate averaged about one filibuster per year until 1970; during the past two sessions it has used the tactic 70 times per year, a clear abuse of the privilege. And it's been used primarily for political purpose, and not for the benefit of the nation as a whole. If a senator wants to filibuster a piece of legislation, he or she should have to show up and engage in a real talk-a-thon defending his o...
In the latest successful Republican filibuster threat, Maine's two senators joined in blocking the confirmation of a new head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau -- not because they opposed the nominee, but because they wanted changes in the bureau's structure. Sen. Susan Collins voted against confirmation. Sen. Olympia Snowe voted "present," which had the same effect as a "no" vote. She cited her husband's work relating to student loans, which the agency wold oversee. The 53-48 majority favoring confirmation was seven votes short of the 60 votes needed to cut off debate.
The quaint traditions of the U.S. Senate cracked and shattered under the pressures of the modern partisan paradigm. Filibusters and holds, once reasonable measures deployed sparingly, were abused and overused simply to deny the other side victory. With the start of the new Congress today, the Senate should reform them. The filibuster is a procedural maneuver that prevents bills and nominations from advancing without 60 votes. It once required senators to stand on the floor and talk for hours, putting all other business on hold. These days, it merely requires a threat from the minority party.
JEFFERSON CITY -- The long-awaited debate over whether Missouri should accept $189.7 million in federal funds to support public schools will open Monday in the state Senate, where leaders are predicting they can avoid a filibuster. The funds became a target of conservative anger about federal spending almost from the first day of the legislative session. Sen. Jim Lembke, R-St. Louis, and others had talked openly about blocking any attempt to spend the money. Lembke and a group of allies held up an unemployment bill for weeks to send a message about federal deficits.
The Senate confirmed President Obama's 20th straight judicial nominee this year after nearly a dozen Republicans bucked their party leader and sided with Democrats Wednesday to allow an up-or- down vote on a controversial district court candidate. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, had tried to filibuster a final vote on the nominee, John J. McConnell Jr., saying he was anti-business and unfit to hold a federal bench. The senator is no relation to the nominee.
In December, independent Sen. Bernie Sanders stood up on the Senate floor to oppose the tax-cut bill and didn't sit down for nine hours. It was an old-fashioned filibuster, like the one Jimmy Stewart delivered in "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington." You don't hear many of them in the U.S. Senate any more, but not because senators have abandoned the tactic. In the past two congressional terms, Republicans brought 275 filibusters. Democrats brought 130 filibusters between 2003 and 2006, when Republicans controlled the Senate. Combined, that's almost 30 percent of all the filibusters since 1919, according to Senate records.
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