curbing filibuster abuse

7/30/2019 Curbing Filibuster Abuse

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B R E N N A NC E N T E R

F O R J U S T I C E

C U R B I N G F I L I B U S T E R A B U S E

M M , J B , D

B C Jat New York University School o Law


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| BRENNAN CEN ER FOR JUS ICE

F A R :

As of October 2012, the current Congress has enacted 196 public laws, the lowest output C W W II. T

of chambers. Control of the House and Senate was also divided from 1981 to 1987 and 20 .

e current Senate passed a record-low 2.8 percent of bills introduced in that chamber, apercent decrease from 2005-2006, and a 90 percent decrease from the high in 1955-1956.

Cloture motions the only way to forcibly end a libuster have skyrocketed since 2 de acto6 - q S .

In the last three Congresses, the percentage of Senate oor activity devoted to cloture votes 5 W

.

On average, it has taken 188 days to con rm a judicial nominee during the current Congr j , O U.S. C

of the congressional term in 1992 and 2010 have there been more judicial emergencies.

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simple majority vote, instead of the 67-vote threshold normally required to change the rules. A gro w - , - , j w

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CURBING FILIBUS ER ABUSE |

T C .Te New York imes C .6

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F , w H S account for the productivity drop. From 1981 to 1987, Democrats controlled

H R R S . Dthe division of partisan control, Congress enacted an average of 587 public lawsduring each two-year span, compared to 196 by the current Congress.8

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90 percent decrease from the high in 1955-1956.9

A S .

I. SENATE OBSTRUCTION REMAINS AT AN ALL-TIME HIGH

Defning Obstruction

The term libuster refers to any dilatory tactic deployed to block legislative action. Unlikethe House of Representatives,the Senate lacks any procedure

permitting a simple majority to force a debatable measureto an up-or-down vote. Theonly way to overcome a

libuster and end debate isthrough Senate Rule XXII,commonly known as theCloture Rule. Yet, for a cloture

motion to pass, a 60-votesupermajority is necessary.Even if a cloture motion

is adopted, Senate Rules permit up to an additional 30 hours of debate before a

nal vote. While a successful invocation of cloture may end the minoritys ability to block

legislation from facing a vote, it hardly silences them entirely.

Although related, libusters and cloture motions are twodistinct procedural features.There can be a libuster without a cloture vote and viceversa. Even the mere threat of

libuster is often suf cient to stop a measure. And cloture motions are sometimes led as a preemptive strike against a possible libuster. All this procedural wrangling results inthe Senate spending more time

on legislative maneuveringthan on substance.

30%

25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%

1 9 4 7

- 1 9 4

8

1 9 5 1

- 1 9 5

2

1 9 5 5

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6

1 9 5 9

- 1 9 6

0

1 9 6 3

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1 9 8 3

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- 2 0 0

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2 0 0 3

- 2 0 0

4

2 0 0 7

- 2 0 0

8

2 0 1 1

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2

Senate Bills Passed as Percentage of All Bills Introduced


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4 | BRENNAN CEN ER FOR JUS ICE

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85 . T 70 years between 1917 (when the Cloture Rule was created) and 1988 (the last year of Ronald Reag

).11

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W , 6 party. Since Hawaii and Alaska joined the Union in 1959, one party has held a majority with 6more members during just 8 of 27 Congresses. is includes the 111th Congress, when the DemocraticParty held 60 votes brie y between July 2009 (when the race for Minnesotas Senate seat was de

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2 0 0 7

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8

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160

140

120

100

80

60

40

20

0

All ClotureMotions Filed

All ClotureVotes Taken

Cloture in the Senate


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CURBING FILIBUS ER ABUSE |5

60 VOTES ARE ASSUMED TO BE REQUIRED FOR LEGISLATIVE ACTION

EPA Climate Change Measure Fails in Senate Apr. 7, 2011 Indianas senators voted Wednesday to block the EnvironmentalP A [ ] GOP needed 60 votes to pass.

Abortion Services Agreement Was Final Hurdle Apr. 9, 2011 A truce on funding for the abortion-services group Planned Parenthood

w - T x S , w60 votes are needed for passage, .

Senate Votes Down a Delay in Rules on Debit Card Fees June 9, 2011 e Senate refused Wednesday to delay new rules that would sharply cut

54 , 60 votes that were required for it to pass under Senate Rules.

Senate Vote Keeps Ethanol Tax Credit Alive June 15, 2011 e U.S. Senate on Tuesday chose not to kill a multibillion-dollar

x w j M .[ ] received just 40 of the 60

votes it needed.


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Between 1961 and 2006, cloture votes have gradually increased as a percentage of Senate oor act 1 14 B ,

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1 9 7 9

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1 9 8 3

- 1 9 8

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1 9 8 7

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1 9 9 1

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2 0 0 7

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8

2 0 1 1

- 2 0 1

2

18%

16%

14%

12%

10%

8%

6%

4%

2%

0%

Votes to Break Filibusters as Percentage of All Senate Votes


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CURBING FILIBUS ER ABUSE | 7

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Cloture Votes: Executive Nominees 15

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Nuclear OptionDebate

Cloture Votes: Judicial Nominees


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.1 Since the O ce created the designation in 1988, there have only been moreemergencies at the end of a Congress twice in 1992 and in 2010.U S

j D 1 , wmore judicial emergencies than when President Obama took o ce in 2009.A U.S. S CC J J R w w , S j

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CURBING FILIBUS ER ABUSE | 9

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e percentage of all Senate votes devoted to invoking cloture on motions to proceed has climbed 95 pe 111 C , 11 C , 27

II. RULES REFORM IS NECESSARY

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9%

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Votes to Break Filibusters on Motion to Proceed as Percentage of All Senate Votes


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the amendment tree 22 times a 47 percent increase from the previous Congress.29

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Number of Bills Without Opportunity for Minority Amendments


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III. ROBUST REFORM CANNOT WAIT


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ENDNOTES1 See Mimi Marziani, Brennan Ctr. for Justice, Filibuster Abuse 1 ( 1 ), available at

http://brennan.3cdn.net/d71924f77ec6e2aa64_3vm6b37f4.pdf .

he Federalist No. 22, 1 (A x H ) (B N ., 6). See Marziani, supra 1, 1.

4 E J. B ,Te Senate Filibuster: Te Politics o Obstruction, 48 Harv. J. on Legis . 467, 469, 480 (2011).

5 See Marziani, supra 1, 5-1 .

6 J S ,Congress Nearing End o Session Where Partisan Input Impeded Output , N.Y. imes, S . 18, 1 , A 1,available at http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/19/us/politics/congress-nears-end-of-least-productive-session.html.

7 See Rsum o Congressional Activity , http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/reference/two_column_table/Resumes.htm ( O . 18, 1 );Laws Passed by the 112th Congress , Congress-Summary.com,http://www.congress-summary.com/B-112th-Congress/Laws_Passed_112th_Congress_Seq.html( N . 11, 1 ).

8

Party Division in the Senate, 1789-Present , U.S. Senate,http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/history/one_item_and_teasers/partydiv.htm( N . 1 , 1 );Party Divisions inthe House o Representatives (1789-Present), Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives,http://artandhistory.house.gov/house_history/partyDiv.aspx ( N . 1 , 1 );Rsum o Congressional Activity , supra 7.

9 D Rsum o Congressional Activity , supra note 7.

1 A Senate Action on Cloture Motions , U.S. Senate,http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/reference/cloture_motions/clotureCounts.htm( O . 18, 1 ).

11 Id.

1 See Party Division in the Senate , supra 8; M D C H ,Frankens Win Bolsters Democratic Grip in Senate ,N.Y. imes, July 1, 2009, at A1,available at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/01/us/politics/01minnesota.html ; MC ,G.O.P. Senate Victory Stuns Democrats , N.Y. imes, J . , 1 , A1,available at

://www. . / 1 / 1/ / / / ..

1 See Memorandum from Senator Judd Gregg to Republican Senators on Tools for Senate Obstruction (Dec. 1, 2009),available at http://talkingpointsmemo.com/documents/2009/12/judd-greggs-blueprint-for-gop-obstruction.php?page=1;Richard S. Beth & Stanley Bach, Cong. Research Serv., RL303 0, Filibusters and Cloture in the Senate 11-1( ),available at :// . / /RL 6 / - - 8/ w /1 5/.

14 P Senate Action on Cloture Motions , supra 1 , C , Rsum o Congressional Activity , supra note 7.

15 D Senate Action on Cloture Motions , supra 1 .

16 Gw I , Majority Leader Treatens to Change Senate Filibuster Rules , PBS Ne sHour, A . 5, 5,http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/politics/jan-june05/judges_4-25.html.

17 Alliance for Justice, Filibusters, Secret Holds, and Obstruction of Judicial Nominees ( 1 ), available at ://www. . /j - / - - - -j - . .

18 C Confrmation Listing , Admin. Office of the U.S. Courts,://www. . /J A J /J V /C L . x ( O . 6, 1 ).

19 See id .


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Vote Number 182, U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 112th Congress, 2nd Session, U.S. Senate,http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=112&session=2&vote=00182 ( O . , 1 ).

1 Judicial Emergencies , Admin. Office of the U.S. Courts,://www. . /J A J /J V /J E . x ( N . 11, 1 ).

Judicial Conference of the U.S., Report of the Proceedings of the Judicial Conference of the United States31 (1988),available at http://www.uscourts.gov/FederalCourts/JudicialConference/Proceedings/Proceedings.aspx?doc=/uscourts/FederalCourts/judconf/proceedings/1988-03.pdf ;

Archive o Judicial Vacancies , Admin. Office of the U.S. Courts,://www. . /J A J /J V /A O J V . x ( N . 1 , 1 ).

Alliance for Justice, he State of the Judiciary: Judicial Selection During the Remainder of PresidentObamas First erm 17 (2012),available at ://www. . /j - / - - -j - (indicating 20 judicial emergencies when Obama took o ce in January 2009).

4 Chief Justice John Roberts, U.S. Supreme Court, 20 0 Year-End Report on the Federal Judiciary 7-8 (2010),available at ://www. . / / - / 1 - . .

5

157 Cong. Rec. S324-25 (daily ed. Jan. 27, 2011) (colloquy between Sens. Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell).6 Betsy Palmer, Cong. Research Serv., 9 -9 3, he Amending Process in the Senate 8-23 (2007),available at https://opencrs.com/document/98-853/2007-11-26/download/1005/ .

27 D Senate Action on Cloture Motions , supra 1 .

8 I , x L I S M j L . L

HOMAS,:// . . / / .( O . , 1 ).

29 W M to Senator Tom Coburn 4-5 (Oct. 7, 2011),available at http://www.coburn.senate.gov/public//index.cfm?a=Files.Serve&File_id=86a87020-75dc-4335-b192-ced34c6b8bd1

11 C . F 1 1 111 C , w id. at 7-21.


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c e n t e r f o r j u s t i c e

at New York University School o Law

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curbing filibuster abuse

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