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A Short History of the Filibuster Accidentally created and cynically exploited, the tactic nonetheless suits the Senate’s intended character.
Politics and law
For a political tactic that sits at the center of a swirling controversy, the filibuster has humble origins. The Founding Fathers gave each house of Congress the power to set its own rules, but they clearly meant for most matters to be decided by majority vote, and they specified the exceptions: proposing amendments to the Constitution, overriding a presidential veto, expelling members of Congress, ratifying treaties, and convicting on an article of impeachment require a two-thirds vote in the relevant chamber. In the early days of the republic, Senate rules allowed a majority to end debate on legislation and move to a vote via a procedure called “moving the previous question.” But in 1804, Vice President Aaron Burr argued that the little-used rule was unneeded, and two years later, th
Regardless of where you may stand in the current debate over whether to end the filibuster the idea has picked up supporters among Democrats who suspect Republicans will effectively thwart most of President Biden’s agenda it is worth remembering this parliamentary maneuver came about as an accident, according to Princeton historian Sean Wilentz.
And as the use of the filibuster evolved from an infrequent tactic to any obstructionist’s weapon of choice, leaders of both major political parties repeatedly tried to change or kill it, said Wilentz in the latest episode of the History As It Happens podcast. Those efforts came to nothing because they, too, were filibustered.
Manufactured gridlock
The seminal political film
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, directed by Frank Capra in 1939, is one of the greatest representations of parliamentary procedure within the United States Congress, albeit dramatized, and it represents what the filibuster has to do with the overall legislative process.
The film is about newly appointed U.S. Senator Jefferson Smith, who fights against a corrupt political system. The film was somewhat controversial when it was first released, though it was successful at the box office and it made lead James Stewart a major star at the time. It was also loosely based on the life of Montana Senator Burton Wheeler, who underwent a similar experience when he was investigating the Warren Harding administration.
Commentary: Craig Holman and Lisa Gilbert - Filibuster an accidental norm that should not be
Craig Holman and Lisa Gilbert
April 1, 2021
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It began as an accident, morphed into a parliamentary tool extensively used to block civil rights legislation, and today has grown into a partisan gambit threatening to obstruct democracy reforms and, for that matter, the entire policy agenda of the new Biden administration.
It is called the filibuster.
There is nothing in the U.S. Constitution that provides for the filibuster. In fact, it is anathema to what the founders envisioned for the legislative process. Noting the standstill of the legislative process under the super-majority vote requirements of the Articles of Confederation, the founders wrote a new Constitution fundamentally based on majority rule. Alexander Hamilton wrote in Federalist 22: “If a pertinacious minority can control the opinion of a majority … (the government’s) situation must always savor of