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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 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]
When things actually happen on Capitol Hill, it’s frequently because senators find ways around the filibuster, the custom whereby a supermajority of 60 votes is required to pass legislation.
Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina famously staged one for 24 hours and 18 minutes — still the record — against civil rights legislation in 1957.
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 ...
The procedure overrides the Senate's filibuster rules, which may otherwise require a 60-vote supermajority for passage. Bills described as reconciliation bills can pass the Senate by a simple majority of 51 votes or 50 votes plus the vice president's as the tie-breaker.
This (is a) relentless abuse of a time-honored Senate tradition … Once a rarely used tactic reserved for issues on which Senators held passionate convictions, the filibuster has become the tool of the sore loser, dooming any measure that cannot command the 60 required votes." [1] There was no attempt to rewrite Senate rules for cloture at ...
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 ...