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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.
The English term "filibuster" derives from the Spanish filibustero, itself deriving originally from the Dutch vrijbuiter, 'privateer, pirate, robber' (also the root of English freebooter). [4] The Spanish form entered the English language in the 1850s , as applied to military adventurers from the United States then operating in Central America ...
Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina famously staged one for 24 hours and 18 minutes — still the record — against civil rights legislation in 1957.
In 1995, Democrats held the White House. The New York Times editorialized, "The U.S. Senate likes to call itself the world's greatest deliberative body. In the last session of Congress, the Republican minority invoked an endless string of filibusters to frustrate the will of the majority.
Passing this legislation over a filibuster threat would be a “democracy exception” to the usual requirement of 60 votes to move legislation in a nearly evenly divided Senate.
William Walker was an American doctor and adventurer who had settled in California during the gold rush. He had tried to seize the state of Sonora before launching the Baja California campaign, which was carried out with the support of American magnates - probably among them was William Vanderbilt; and within the framework of the omission of the California authorities regarding what was an ...
[2] Fortas was the first Chief Justice nominee ever to appear before the Senate, and he faced hostile questioning about his relationship with Lyndon B. Johnson. Johnson sought to help Fortas win a majority vote, but only as a face-saving measure, according to Johnson aide Joseph Califano: "We won't withdraw the nomination. I won't do that to Abe."