Debate Desk
Should the Senate Filibuster Be Abolished to Let the Majority Govern?
The 60-vote rule forces compromise and protects the minority, and the party that ends it will regret it; reforms like a talking filibuster are options.
The claim
Critics say that the filibuster lets a minority of senators block bills with majority support, that it was used to defend segregation and that voters elect a party to carry out its agenda. A government that cannot act is not accountable.
The answer in three points
- The Senate was designed as a slower, more deliberate body. The framers gave it six-year terms and equal state representation to temper the passions of the moment, and the rule that allows extended debate is part of that tradition. The need for a broad agreement protects against swings of policy.
- Majorities do not last. The party that removes the filibuster for its priorities will find that the next majority can use the same power against them. Laws passed on a narrow vote can be repealed on a narrow vote, and stability in the law suffers.
- There are middle paths. The modern filibuster, which requires only a threat and not a speech, is different from the original talking filibuster. Requiring senators to hold the floor, or limiting the filibuster to the final vote, are ideas that bring accountability without ending the minority's voice.
Rules that slow the Senate also protect the minority, and the minority changes with every election.
The numbers
- The Senate's Rule XXII requires three fifths of senators, 60 of 100, to end debate on most legislation, a threshold set in 1975, according to the Senate's historical office.
- The Senate used the so-called nuclear option in 2013 to end filibusters on most executive and lower court nominations and in 2017 for Supreme Court nominations, according to the Senate's records.
- Article I, Section 5 of the Constitution gives each house the power to determine the rules of its proceedings.
What they will say next
"It was used to block civil rights." It was, and it was also used later by civil rights supporters and by others to block measures they opposed. The fact that a tool was misused does not decide whether it has value.
"The majority will of the voters is thwarted." The Senate gives each state equal representation, and a majority of senators may represent a minority of the population. A rule requiring broad agreement is consistent with the design.
"Gridlock is a failure." Gridlock is frustrating and it protects as much as it frustrates. Congress often acts when there is enough consensus, such as in appropriations and defense bills.
"Nominations are already exempt." That change is a warning of what follows, in the form of more partisan fights over judges.
Slow laws are often better laws, and the minority of today is the majority of tomorrow.
"Democrats and Republicans both promised to end it when it suited them." They did, which shows how views on the rule follow the party in power. A rule that each side attacks when blocked and defends when in the minority is one that protects both.