Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
A filibuster is a tactic used in the United States Senate to delay or block a vote on a measure by preventing debate on it from ending. [1]: 2 The Senate's rules place few restrictions on debate; in general, if no other senator is speaking, a senator who seeks recognition is entitled to speak for as long as they wish.
In the November 2008 elections, the Democratic Party increased its majorities in both chambers (including – when factoring in the two Democratic caucusing independents – a brief filibuster-proof 60-40 supermajority in the Senate), and with Barack Obama being sworn in as president on January 20, 2009, this gave Democrats an overall federal ...
Originally, the Senate's rules did not provide for a procedure for the Senate to vote to end debate on a question so that it could be voted on, [9] [10] [11] which opened the door to filibusters. In 1917, the Senate introduced a procedure to allow for ending debate (invoking cloture) with a two-thirds majority, later reduced in 1975 to three ...
As recently as 2013, Senate Democrats amended cloture to allow a simple majority to confirm President Obama’s nominations of cabinet executives and all federal judges except the Supreme Court.
With Democrats now holding the Senate majority, talk of eliminating the filibuster has ramped up. "A filibuster is really extended debate, extended amending activity, whatever it takes to block ...
"They're suddenly afraid to even talk about these issues and figure out solutions," the former president said of Republican opposition to the For the People Act.
Obama made 80 nominations for federal judgeships that were not confirmed by the Senate. Of these, 7 were withdrawn by Obama, while the other 73 expired at an adjournment of the Senate, including 54 that were pending at the close of the 114th Congress. As of December 4, 2023, 23 of his unsuccessful nominees had been nominated to federal ...
Democrats control the 50-50 Senate only because of the tie-breaking vote of Vice President Kamala Harris. That means that to overcome a filibuster, Democrats need support from at least 10 ...