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Filibuster

Introduction to Senate Dysfunction

Over the last decade, it has become increasingly evident that Senate procedures have been used to prevent decision-making rather than to promote deliberation and debate. The threat of a filibuster — coupled with a 60-vote requirement to force any substantive vote — has affected nearly every action in the Senate during the last several years, under both Republican and Democratic majorities. As a result, the Senate has effectively ceased operating as the majoritarian institution our founders intended for it to be; instead, a supermajority vote is almost always needed to pass legislative or approve executive branch or judicial nominees.

Recently, this troubling trend has reached a breaking point — we are now dealing with a difference in degree that has become a difference in kind. Throughout the 1990s, there were, on average, about 29 filibusters per congressional session. This number is ever increasing: there were 32 filibusters in the 107^th Congress, 27 in the 108^th, and 36 in the 109^th. In the 110^th Congress, there were approximately 52 filibusters — a 44 percent spike from the prior session. The current Senate hit its “golden” 50^th filibuster in mid-April of this year

More, with rising partisanship, the minority party has assumed near-unbreakable veto power over legislative action, bringing the chamber virtually to a halt. Even routine diplomatic nominations and noncontroversial measures are routinely derailed. Many fear that the Senate is perilously close to total breakdown.

This dysfunction is unlikely to correct itself without exposure, awareness and remedial action. If our democratic processes are to be used as the Founders intended — to address and resolve the pressing problems of our nation on behalf of our country’s citizens — we must find solutions to repair this broken part of our system immediately.

Accordingly, in January 2010, the Brennan Center has launched a special, year-long project to address procedural dysfunction in the U.S. Senate. Our ultimate goal is to restore legislative accountability in the Senate by reforming the rules that currently incentivize relentless and unprincipled obstruction. New rules should facilitate actual debate, deliberation and compromise — reflecting the intent of our Founders and allowing the Senate to effectively address the pressing demands of Twenty-First century America. This goal reinforces the Brennan Center’s core mission — to promote a robust and functioning democracy.