Filibuster Blog Post

Jake Henson

Vocabulary Terms 1. Filibuster an unending debate a. Senators can filibuster when opposing a bill to try to gain media for an upcoming election. 2. Cloture procedure for ending a filibuster by supermajority vote a. The majority party can try to end a minoritys filibuster through cloture with three-fifths vote (supermajority) 3. Rules Committee committee of the House that controls the Houses debates a. Filibusters are possible for the Senate with the lack of a Rules Committee, therefor the House cannot filibuster because they have a Rules Committee can control debate and press time limits. Summary The filibuster is the key activity for a minority party member to speak his mind and get his name out there. It acts as almost a political theater, and hence why it is the most well-known act of the Senate to the eyes of the public. This is article talks about the filibuster process along with how cloture is invoked. Gregory Wawro and Eric Schickler dissect the famous 109th session of Congress, where George W. Bush nominated conservative federal judges, and a Democratic Senator filibuster broke out. The case deals with issues of the nuclear option in supermajority, so the authors go into much detail of this. With varying opinions on filibusters, they still happen and give more power to the Senate. Evaluation Filibuster goes in depth in the good and bad of the use of the filibuster for Senators. The main reason the filibuster is in place is to check against tyranny. A filibuster helps keep the majority party from gaining too much power. If the Senate were not allowed to filibuster, then the majority party could pass nearly any bill they wanted without a threat. Giving the minority party power to filibuster gives them the power voice their position and try to persuade the majority party there way. It gives a chance for more discussion. This can cause chaos in the Senate, which will force the majority party to either pursue the bill or drop it and move on. Another reason for a Senator to filibuster is to simply get his name in the eyes of the media. If a Senator gets up and speaks out on his opinion for hours and hours, he shows how much he truly cares. If that Senator wanted to run for President in the future, media and the public may recognize him and look back upon how he fought for his stance, in turn winning him more votes.

Filibuster Blog Post

Jake Henson

The article talks about one of the most recent major filibusters in the 109 th session of Congress. President Bush nominated several conservative federal judges, which led to the Democrats in the Senate to filibuster against the nominations. The minority party, the Democrats, argued to try to delay the voting on the nominations. The filibuster is powerful in helping the minority party check the majority party from tyranny. Along with a filibuster being used to check the majority party, there has to be a way for the majority party to stop the minority party when none of the party is being persuaded. Cloture is the way for the majority party to end a filibuster by gaining three-fifths vote (60 votes if everyone votes). Gaining the three-fifths vote is known as supermajority. If 60 percent of the Senate is for a bill, then there is simply no reason not to pass it right then. A filibuster is all for someones personal gains at this point. Cloture is a way for Congress to stop completely unnecessary wastes of time in an extended filibuster. The problems with a filibuster are pretty simple. It isnt exactly fair for a Senator to be able to promote himself for a future election that is irrelevant to the topic of the bill. These individuals should not be able to speak out if it is not in favor of the bill. Filibusters are a necessity to bettering a bill, and the time of one should not misused. Cloture seems to have a fair design. I see 60 percent as a solid majority as long as neither party has supermajority before voting. As in, 60 representatives from their party would give cloture to the majority party right away. f