Has the cloture vote to shut off filibuster in the senate been changed?

What is the 60-40-filibuster rule in the Senate?

A filibuster is an effective way to block a vote on any proposed legislation. It takes 60 votes to reach "cloture" - which means debate on a a particular bill is over and it's ready for a full vote on the Senate floor. Failure to reach cloture on a bill means it has been filibustered so negotiations with opposing Senators must take place to reach the magic number of 60 votes for cloture.

What is the 40-60 filibuster rule in the senate?

A filibuster is an effective way to block a vote on any proposed legislation. It takes 60 votes to reach "cloture" - which means debate on a a particular bill is over and it's ready for a full vote on the Senate floor. Failure to reach cloture on a bill means it has been filibustered so negotiations with opposing Senators must take place to reach the magic number of 60 votes for cloture.

How many votes does it take for a filibuster to happen?

The House of Representatives does not have a filibuster maneuver. The House has a Rules Committee that establishes when a bill will come to the floor and how long debate will be allowed. Filibuster is possible only in the United State Senate, which has no similar set of rules. Because Senate debate is set informally, every Senator has the possibility of speaking. A filibuster can occur when an individual Senator refuses to yield the floor to any other member. A filibuster can be blocked through a complicated process called cloture. Although a series of things have to occur in order to invoke cloture, the bottom line is that 60 Senators must agree to vote for cloture and stop a filibuster. So the short answer is - no filibuster in the House, only in the Senate; and in order to stop filibuster in the Senate, 60 votes are required.

What was the longest group filibuster in history and who performed it?

The longest filibuster came in spring of 1964 when the U.S. Senate was weighing Lyndon Johnson's Civil Rights Bill. The bill had been introduced by President Kennedy a year earlier but not taken up for debate until after his death. Debate began in March of 1964. Before it was over, Southern senators had filibustered for 534 hours, 1 minute, and 51 seconds. When the Senate finally mustered enough votes to end the filibuster, an aging California senator was wheeled onto the floor and voted by winking his eye. With the filibuster ended, the Senate approved the bill on June 20 and it was signed into law on July 2, 1964.

Why would senators choose to vote cloture?

Cloture means to shut off debate. It is normally used after all reasonable debate has been given its chance to speak and certain senators are trying to block the normal flow of business by meaningless speeches. After awhile, reasonable senators figure that it is time to move on and get some work business done .

The filibuster is not as strong a weapon as it used to be because of?

New senate rules. Actually, it's stronger now than ever. Historically, the filibuster was used as a temporary measure to block a bill's passage, by hijacking the debate on the bill for a fixed amount of time. In the 1800s, the method was that a Senator (or series of Senators) wishing to mount a filibuster would have to gain recognition from the presiding member (i.e the "chair"), and then begin to speak. They could speak on any subject they wished, though, traditionally, it was supposed to be on the evils of the bill being considered. That person could hold the floor for as long as they could continue to speak. They could also recognize questions from others in the Senate, who could ask extremely complicated questions of extreme length. By this method, no other Senate business could continue, as the filibustering Senators held the floor for discussions. The limit was that Senators had to be physically present and continue the string of speeches. As soon as the last speaking senator ended, the Chair could call to close the discussion. Thus, filibusters were only able to last a few days at the most, and ALL Senate business halted during the filibuster. A filibuster was breakable by a 2/3rds vote of those PRESENT (not total Senate membership), if the Chair so desired to call for the closure. In the early 1900s, the rules were changed so that continuous, round-the-clock speeches were not required. Instead, the Senate could adjurn for the day, and pick up the next day with the same speaker holding the floor. Otherwise, everything was the same. So, once again, a filibuster meant that ALL Senate business could be halted, now for potentially several weeks or more. Sometime after WW2, the Senate rules again changed. Now, the filibustering senator merely had to indicate that they wanted to filibuster, and the Chair had to recognize that filibuster was being done. There was no longer any need to actually speak (or, even be continually present). In addition, filibusters could now be directed against specific bills WHILE OTHER SENATE BUSINESS CONTINUED. Even worse, closure was changed to be 60 votes of the entire Senate, not just 2/3rd of those present. This was a huge change - it effectively meant that the filibuster was now trivial to use, and had no cost. It could be of unlimited duration, for so long as 60 votes were not able to be mustered for a "closure" of discussion, the filibuster was unbreakable (as there was no effort required) and would never end. Tradition kept the filibuster from being too abused, until the partisan 2000s showed up. Now, it has become a very potent tool for the minority party (in particular, but not exclusively, the Republican Party) to block legislation indefinitely. It effectively means that all bills now require a 60-vote margin to pass in the Senate, rather than a normal 51-vote simple majority. There has been some serious discussion that the rules need to change to reflect this problem of too-easy filibusters. However, the only way to change these rules is at the BEGINNING of a Senate session.

What does it mean to say Motion to proceed to consideration of measure withdrawn in senate?

For several weeks now, unemployed Americans have been anxiously and frustratingly awaiting a decision on H.R. 3548, the Unemployment Compensation Act of 2009, by the Senate. Even though many of the Democratic Senators have urged some of the resistant Republican Senators to pass the bill, they heartlessly continue stalling by bringing up issues unrelated to unemployment. In the meanwhile, 7,000 unemployed exhaust their benefits everyday, fearing how they will continue to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table.Progress on H.R. 3548 - The Unemployment Compensation Act of 2009Although the wait is probably far from over, I found one indication of progress. On the Senate calendar for October 26, while there will be no roll call votes on Monday's session, it did state the Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid, hopes to complete action on H.R. 3548 next week. Since this was listed on October 26, I assume they mean the week beginning November 1. Furthermore, for October 27 at 2:30 p.m., it said, "cloture vote on the motion to proceed to H.R. 3548, Unemployment Insurance." To see the Senate calendar, go to http://democrats.senate.gov/calendar/2009-10.html.For those of you who aren't familiar with the term cloture, a cloture vote is when the Senate places a time limit on the consideration of a bill to end a filibuster. If the Senate has a 3/5 vote of the full Senate or normally 60 votes, it can limit consideration on a pending matter to 30 additional hours.In the meanwhile, continue to email the Republican Senators and voice your complaints. Hang in there, America!

Which Political Party has been in the Majority and thus has control of the Congress for the last 8 years?

from about 7 years ago to now it has been a republican majority in the senate and only for the past 2 years it has been a democrat control in the house. so basically it has changed a lot in the past 8 years but currently the dems will control the house. the senate. and the presidency

How has the committee changed in the past 30 years?

more employees have been hired for congress, many more in the house because the house has a significant amount more people then the senate does.

What bills were filibustered by Republicans during the Obama Administration?

Too many to list in just one answer. As political scientists from both parties have noted, Republicans in congress have used the filibuster an unprecedented number of times in the past four years: where it used to only be used to stop a major vote on an important piece of legislation (and in fairness, it should be noted that both parties have used it, depending on whichever one was in the minority), senate Republicans now use it almost as a matter of routine, to slow down or prevent even many votes that used to be largely procedural and automatic. The result is that the senate has ground to a halt, since nearly everything now requires 60 votes or it does not proceed. Few bills are given a fair hearing, or an up-or-down vote. As Mark Kogan, a political science professor, has noted, the filibuster has been transformed into the primary means of obstruction in the senate: "an everyday partisan tool, used simply to delay-- or worse, as a minority [party] veto." The decision to filibuster was taken seriously back in the day when to do so meant standing up and talking indefinitely until a senator became exhausted and quit or the filibuster was ended by a senate vote known as "cloture." From 1950 to 1969, cloture was only invoked twenty times, for example. But there is no longer a "talking filibuster"-- now it's just a senator who says he or she wants to have one, and the senate must get 60 votes to stop it. Given how easy it has become, it has become the weapon of choice to stop things from happening: in the 111th congress, which served from early 2009 to early 2011, filibusters were used 136 times. And the 112th congress has continued this pace: in May 2012, filibusters had already been used nearly ninety times. Just to give you another example of how bad things have gotten: in 1947-1948, congress enacted about 900 public laws. But as of September 2012, the 112th congress had only enacted 173 laws, many of which were relatively minor provisions, while major pieces of legislation were filibustered-- these included a farm bill, a bill to protect women who are victims of domestic violence, a bill to put people to work rebuilding infrastructure (roads and bridges), a bill to combat cyber-crimes, a measure to normalize trade relations with Russia, and various appropriations bills. It should also be noted that the DISCLOSE Act, which would have mandated that anonymous donors who were funding attack ads had to reveal who they were, also fell victim to the filibuster.

How many members have been expelled from the senate?

As of 2021, a total of 15 senators have been expelled from the United States Senate.

What are two things the senate can do that the house can't do?

The House of Representatives initiates bills for raising revenue and all impeachment proceedings. The Senate is not permitted to do either. In the matter of revenue bills, it may make changes in bills raised and passed in the House and send them back to the House for re-consideration, but these changes are more like suggestions. The Senate may not initiate impeachment proceedings, but it serves as the jury for the trial of the person who has been impeached.