News

Experts told Newsweek that the party's attempt to fast-track Trump's budget could hold long-term consequences for Senate ...
With a Democratic Senate — the more likely scenario currently — the filibuster becomes central. Even if Democrats all but run the table on Election Day, they’ll end up with around 54 or 55 ...
Lisa Desjardins: Judy, it's called the filibuster, the right of senators to derail votes, in theory, with infinite debate. And it's why there is a 60-vote threshold for most Senate bills.
Ending a filibuster before it starts. Sept. 4, 2013, 9:00 AM EDT. By Steve Benen, Steve Benen. At least for now, it appears likely that most of the Senate will support a resolution authorizing the ...
In most cases,the filibuster has been seen as a source of obstruction; now, if a majority is all that’s needed, we might see Washington move forward on decisions, says Julian Zelizer.
And even if that happens, supporters of ending the filibuster will have the not-so-simple task of convincing Senate Democrats to give up a power that is undeniably helpful to the minority.
In 1917, the Senate required a two-thirds vote to end a filibuster; in 1975, that threshold was lowered to three-fifths, or 60 members in the current Senate.
The result was a precursor of the filibuster rule as it exists today: The Senate could end debate by a vote of two-third of all senators. The threshold was later reduced to three-fifths, or 60 votes.
There was no procedure to end a filibuster, so pro-slavery politicians such as Sen. John Calhoun of South Carolina stifled abolitionist and "free soil" measures against slavery's expansion with ...
Jimmy Stewart is shown in a scene from the 1939 Frank Capra film "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington." Stewart stars as Jefferson Smith, an idealistic Senate appointee who uses the filibuster to fight ...
Is the End of the Filibuster Near? The Senate’s signature procedural tactic is losing some of its staunchest defenders in Senators Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin, leaving its future in doubt.
Ending a filibuster before it starts. Associated Press. By Steve Benen. At least for now, it appears likely that most of the Senate will support a resolution authorizing the use of military force ...