Killibuster
Critical Analysis
According to the data from the (let’s be honest, it’s gorgeous) chart above, how many senate debates were held up by filibusters in the 2019-2020 term (116th Congress)?
For the current, 117th Congress, after around 35 percent of the term has finished, the number of filibusters stands at 110. What do you predict that number will be at the end of the 117th Congress?
Describe one trend in the data from the chart above?
What do you think explains the trend in filibusters over the past two decades?
According to the U.S. Senate’s super-high tech, GIF-filled, and often explicit website, the term filibuster, from a Dutch word meaning "pirate," became popular in the United States during the 1850s when it was applied to efforts to hold the Senate floor in order to prevent action on a bill.Filibuster is Dutch for “talk endlessly”. If you filibuster a filibuster I guess that is called a filibuster-buster. Is the filibuster something actually set up by the U.S. Constitution?
There has been talk recently of ending the use of the filibuster entirely (it has already been removed from judicial confirmations.) Consider how the end of the filibuster would impact legislation and U.S. policy and make a claim about whether the filibuster should continue.
It takes a vote of cloture (60 out of 100 senators) to end a filibuster, If there was a super-majority of either party in the Senate would the issue of a filibuster be very important?
Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) and Joe Manchin (D-WV), the same senators who withdrew support for a party-line vote on the $3.5 trillion infrastructure package, have so far come out against eliminating or changing the filibuster rules in the Senate, while more remain on the fence. The Democrats currently have a 51:50 majority in the upper chamber of U.S. Congress (including Vice President Kamala Harris’ tie-breaking vote), which is short of the 60 votes needed to end a filibuster. Why do you think these Senators support the filibuster?
Imagine the House also had a filibuster. How would that impact American politics?
Make a claim about how democratic the use of the filibuster is.
Learning Extension
Read the Bookings Report (or just look at the pretty pictures, graphs, and visuals! What is the filibuster and what would it take to end it?
Action Extension
Krysten Sinema- D Arizona, and Joe Manchin-D West Virginia both oppose ending the use of the filibuster. Contact either of these politicians and share your opinion of the use of the filibuster.
