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The term "filibuster" ultimately derives from the Dutch vrijbuiter ("freebooter", a pillaging and plundering adventurer), but the precise history of the word's borrowing into English is obscure. [2] The Oxford English Dictionary finds its only known use in early modern English in a 1587 book describing "flibutors" who robbed supply convoys. [2]
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.
Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina famously staged one for 24 hours and 18 minutes — still the record — against civil rights legislation in 1957.
The filibuster—an extended speech designed to stall legislation—began at 8:54 p.m. [a] and lasted until 9:12 p.m. the following day, a duration of 24 hours and 18 minutes. This made the filibuster the longest single-person filibuster in United States Senate history, a record that still stands as of 2025.
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 ...
Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) in his first prepared address as Senate majority leader says “preserving” the filibuster will be one of his top priorities, making an early move to quash any talk of ...
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The entire 14-hour and 50-minute filibuster, as broadcast by C-SPAN. On June 15, 2016, in the wake of a mass shooting in Orlando, Florida, Senator Chris Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut, launched a filibuster in the United States Senate, promising to hold the floor "for as long as I can" or until Congress acts on gun control legislation.