What is a Senate Filibuster ?A filibuster is a tactic used by the Senate's minority to delay or defeat a bill or amendment. Under Senate rules, a final up-or-down vote on a bill cannot be taken until Senators agree to end debate on it. A filibuster takes advantage of this rule to prolong debate indefinitely. The vote to end debate is known as cloture, from the French word for "ending." Although most votes in the Senate are decided by a simple majority of 51 votes, it takes three-fifths of the "duly chosen and sworn" senators to pass cloture. In practice, that usually means 60 out of 100 senators, regardless of whether they are present for the vote. The only time it would take fewer than 60 votes is if a Senate seat were vacant due to death or a disputed election, for example. In today's political climate, the threat of a filibuster usually causes the Senate majority leader to count cloture votes. If there are not 60 votes, a bill will probably not make it to the floor since that would clog up the calendar, hurting the chances of other legislation.
Editorial : And we wonder why nothing gets done in Washington D.C. ? Politics as usual !
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