FILIBUSTER, CONGRESSIONAL

FILIBUSTER, CONGRESSIONAL. Filibuster is the practice by a determined minority in the United States Senate of prolonging debate and monopolizing the floor of the Senate to prevent final action on a proposal. Although promoted as a moderating force in debate and as a means to ensure full and open debate on issues, the filibuster has generally been used simply to frustrate political majorities in their attempts to pass legislation.

The filibuster was used intermittently in the Senate from 1806 to 1917, an era when no general rule limited debate. In the House of Representatives, its use has been minimized by the early adoption of strict limits on debate.

The modern history of the filibuster began in 1917, when the Senate amended Rule 22 by adopting cloture provisions for limiting debate and forcing final action. Over time, the supermajority required for cloture has changed from two-thirds of the membership, to two-thirds of those voting. Since 1975 the Senate may, upon the petition of sixteen senators and after two days' delay, act to end a filibuster or any other debate by a three-fifths vote of the senators duly chosen and sworn (normally sixty votes) except on a measure or motion to amend the Senate rules, in which case a vote by two-thirds of those present and voting is required. The longest filibuster ranged over seventy-five days in 1964. The individual record belongs to Senator J. Strom Thurmond, who in 1957 held the floor for over twenty-four hours in debate on the civil rights legislation. Post-cloture debate is now limited to a maximum of thirty hours.

With the reduction in the threshold for cloture votes, the incidence and success rates of cloture petitions have increased. From 1917 to 1975 some 100 cloture petitions were voted upon; on only 20 percent of these was the filibuster ended. In the period from 1975 until 1994, 284 cloture votes were held, and cloture supporters were successful 41 percent of the time. Cloture has been used successfully on a variety of issues, such as the Treaty of Versailles (1919), Prohibition (1927), civil rights (1964), voting rights (1965), open housing (1968), the military draft system (1971), draft-evaders' pardons (1977), capital gains tax cuts (1989), and campaign finance reform (1994).

The importance of the filibuster lies in the ability of a few senators, or even one senator, to prevent issues from coming to a vote. This protection of intense minority views threatens to thwart accomplishments by the majority. Since a filibuster brings almost all organized Senate activity to a halt, even the threat of a filibuster provides substantial pressure to amend or resist bringing the controversial measure to the floor.

On the whole, while filibusters usually add little either to the knowledge of senators or to public awareness, they may provide some restraint on precipitous majority action. In the last analysis the filibuster remains a potentially powerful weapon by a determined minority. A large majority in the Senate, as evidenced in the 1964 debates on the Civil Rights Bill, can end a filibuster whatever the issue. But in the diverse American society, it is frequently difficult to create such a majority.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Binder, Sarah A., and Steven S. Smith. Politics or Principle: Filibustering in the United States Senate. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, 1997.

Congressional Quarterly's Guide to the Congress of the United States. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Press, 2000.

Morris S.Ogul

Brian D.Posler