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Filibuster

A filibuster is a political procedure where one or more members of parliament or congress debate over a proposed piece of legislation so as to delay or entirely prevent a decision being made on the proposal.

The filibuster—a procedural move allowing senators to extend debates on bills indefinitely without a 60-vote majority—has long been viewed as a move to encourage bipartisanship in Congress and as a bulwark against political dominance by slim majorities in the upper chamber. It is also criticised as an an example of Congressional disfunction and agressive partisanship.

The most common form occurs when one or more senators attempt to delay or block a vote on a bill by extending debate on the measure. The Senate rules permit a senator, or a series of senators, to speak for as long as they wish, and on any topic they choose, unless "three-fifths of the Senators duly chosen and sworn" (currently 60 out of 100) vote to bring the debate to a close by invoking cloture under Senate Rule XXII.

In January 2022, the Senate blocked a Democrat attempt to remove the filibuster that was blocking the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. The Senate voted 50-49 to pass the bill, falling well short of the 60 votes needed to break the filibuster.

In 2021, Biden struggled to pass many important policies in the Senate. The Democrats hold fifty seats, which limited their power. The For the People Act aimed to strengthen voting rights but was stopped by a filibuster. Biden proposed a change to the rules to make it harder to use the filibuster. Democrats sought a special exception to protect civil rights bills from being filibustered. This effort failed, with fifty-two senators voting against it, including two Democrats, Manchin and Sinema.

The Nuclear Option

The nuclear option is a legislative procedure that allows the Senate to override a standing rule by a simple majority, avoiding the two-thirds supermajority normally required to invoke cloture on a measure amending the Standing Rules. The term "nuclear option" is an analogy to nuclear weapons being the most extreme option in warfare. The term is used when any party in Congress suggest removing the filibuster or use a proceedure to prevent a filibuster. Concerns about abolishing the filibuster through the nuclear option arise because it would usher in an eara of party dominance in the Senate- ie both parties fear giving this power to the other party but would like to have it themselves!

Senate votes on cloture to end a filibuster

The filibuster was originally used only rarely when a senator felt that a bill was a major threat to their state. In the partisan age, the use of the filibuster has increased hugely. It is often used by a senator to block the passage of a bill proposed by the president of the opposing party. With huge increases in attempts to filibuster, there are also more motions of cloture proposed to end debate and stop the filibuster.

July 2025 The Republicans used the 'Reconciliation Proceedure' to overcome the Filibuster

A reconciliation bill is a special legislative process in the United States Congress used to expedite the passage of certain budget-related legislation in the Senate. It allows bills to pass with a simple majority (51 votes) in the Senate, bypassing the filibuster rules that typically require a 60-vote supermajority. The reconciliation process was created by the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 and was first used in 1980.

Republicans have employed the reconciliation process to pass Trump's tax bill, (the so called Big Beautiful Bill) the centerpiece of his second-term domestic agenda, allowing them to eventually advance the bill with only a majority vote rather than the 60 votes normally needed to do away with the threat of a filibuster. A central element of the bill, which the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates would add $4.2 trillion to the nation's deficit through 2034, is the extension of the tax cuts enacted during Trump's first term. This tactic means Reconciliation Bills can be used to pass bills outside the scope of the original reconcilaition process- ie prevent a filibuster.

Steve Smith, professor of politics at Arizona State University, told Newsweek: "If a small Senate majority can put anything in a budget measure or ignore the ten-year budget window, then nothing is left for regular legislation that is subject to a filibuster. It represents a "get-it-while-you-can" partisanship that Republicans have adopted since [Mitch] McConnell became leader that, step-by-step, has undermined longstanding Senate norms."

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