What’s a Filibuster?

There is no such thing as a "filibuster-proof majority"

In his State of the Union address to Congress last week, President Barack Obama asked the U.S. Senate to amend or abolish its filibuster rules to break the Congressional gridlock. Don’t hold your breath. Neither party wants to change those rules because they always benefit the minority party, and each party will have its turn in that position.


You won’t find filibusters in the U.S. Constitution, but they are constitutional. Article I, Section 5, Clause 2 authorizes the House and Senate to make their own operating rules. Senate rules permit filibusters on the bills it considers. House of Representatives rules do not permit filibusters. The term first appeared in politics in the 1850s.


Senate rules permit unlimited debate on all bills, motions, amendments, and resolutions. Votes can only occur when all senators are finished speaking. A filibuster is an obstructionist tactic that avoids a floor vote on a bill. Although they are usually planned, any senator can begin a filibuster on any topic at any time. That prevents a vote, and thus stops the bill’s passage.


In the past, senators have used filibusters to prevent votes on the Treaty of Versailles (which ended World War I) and some economic and social legislation during the Depression. The late Sen. Strom Thurmond, R-SC, holds the record for a solo filibuster of 24 hours and 18 minutes. He unsuccessfully tried to block passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957. Southern senators staged a 57-day filibuster against the Civil Rights Act of 1964. They lost that one, too. Senate liberals used a filibuster to resist passage of the capital gains tax cut in 1991.


In 1917, the Senate changed its rules to allow “cloture”, which is the term for ending a filibuster and voting on the bill before them. At that time, they required 67 votes to pass a cloture motion. They changed the rule to 60 votes in 1975. Any senator can make a cloture motion. If the motion gets at least 60 votes, debate ends and the “up or down” vote on passing the bill begins. If the motion fails, the filibuster continues and there won’t be a vote on the bill.


When Al Franken challenged incumbent Norm Coleman for his U.S. Senate seat from Minnesota in 2008, the election was so very close that the results were unknown until June 30, 2009. That gave the Democrats 60 Senate seats. The media immediately began crowing about the Democrats’ new “filibuster-proof majority”. That sounds good on the evening news but, in real life, there is no such thing.


Cloture motions usually fail because it’s difficult to get the 60 votes necessary to approve them. No matter how many senators are in your party, each senator still makes her or his own decision. While most Members of Congress usually vote with their parties, they are never required to do so. Depending on the issue, there are usually a few who cross party lines in each direction. So the “majority” changes on any given topic, and Democrats are known for their lack of party discipline. It’s often said that organizing Democrats is like herding cats. So if you can’t depend on the votes, then your majority is not “filibuster proof”.


Today, there are 51 Democrats, 47 Republicans, and 2 independents in the senate. The independents allegedly caucus with the Democrats, usually giving them a 53-47 majority. Since Republicans are much better at controlling their members, their filibusters are much more reliable. Thus, the Republicans can obstruct all efforts to pass anything in the senate. And they make full use of that power.


Under past rules, the filibustering senators would take turns endlessly debating the bill before them. They were trying to change their colleagues’ minds on the subject, or annoy them to the point where they decided to drop the bill altogether. You might remember Jimmy Stewart’s famous filibuster scene from the movie Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.


Current rules don’t require that monumental effort and now permit “silent” and secret filibusters. Senators merely have to announce a filibuster. They never actually have to stand on the Senate floor and explain why they oppose the bill, or suggest alternative actions, or anything else. They can just block any bill any time they feel like it. And Republican senators feel like it a lot. That’s why Congress can’t get anything done.


Senate Republicans have been filibustering everything since Democrats took the majority in 2006. They have obstructed all of President Obama’s efforts by to repair the CheneyBush administration’s damage. For the past thirty years, the problem with Congress has been that the Republicans have no morals and the Democrats have no spine.


Filibuster rules do need to change, but it won’t happen without massive public pressure.


For more information:U.S. Senate Rules
Filibusters and Cloture in the Senate: Congressional Research Service
Why Congress Can’t Get Anything Done
United States Constitution

State of the Union Address is Tradition, Not Law

Every year at this time, the president delivers his State of the Union address to a special joint session of Congress. President Obama will do so Tuesday night at 9:00 PM. The usual fanfare will accompany the event. Teevee talking heads will begin gushing and gossiping as early as 6:00.

The U.S. Constitution divides our government into three branches: Executive, Legislative, and Judicial. The courts are the judicial branch. Congress is the Legislative, or law-making, branch. The president heads the Executive, or management branch. The cabinet departments manage the nation's daily business under the president's direction. The president is the nation's chief executive officer, just like the CEO of a large corporation.

Eighteenth century communications weren't quite as fast or thorough as they are today. So our founders required the president to report to Congress occasionally on how the nation was doing. Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution says:

He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient. . . .

Yes, that's all it says. The president is required to report "from time to time". The law does not require the report to be in person, on television, in January, or even once a year. The report could be in writing, or in private meetings. It could take place more or less often. If he wanted to, President Obama could e-mail every member of Congress every day. Several presidents have delivered written messages. You can see a full report on SOTU addresses here.

But Americans love a spectacle. Over the years, the process of delivering that information evolved into the exhibition we now call the State of the Union Address. The pomp and ceremony of the great assembly is all tradition. All cabinet secretaries (except one), the Supreme Court justices, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the President's Executive staff, the First Lady, and distinguished guests gather in the House chamber to hear the president's words. They meet there because it was originally the only place in Washington large enough to hold such a gathering.

The president makes his grand entrance down the center aisle, shaking hands all the way. Traditionally, members of Congress divide themselves by party in the House and Senate chambers. All of the Democrats sit together on the left side of the center aisle; the Republicans sit on the right. Last year, to honor the Tucson Tragedy in a gesture of "civility" and "bipartisanship", many members mingled with their colleagues from the other party. They won’t be doing that this year.

Security concerns arose over the years because all of the senior members of the government gather in one room for the event. Since all cabinet members are in the line of succession to the presidency, one member stays behind so that the government can carry on in the event of a disaster. Again, that's by tradition, not law.

The speech usually includes a single-word description of "the state of the union". Obama will recap the past year's events and summarize his administration's successes and failures. Then he will list the issues that he wants Congress to address this year. We can expect the economy, jobs, and Republican obstruction to take center stage. But don’t be surprised if he mentions the SOPA and PIPA internet piracy acts, given the recent massive outburst of public opinion.

Because presidents don't make laws, they can't introduce bills to Congress; only members can do that. When the president wants to send a bill to Congress, a member of the relevant committee does it for him. The State of the Union address is the president's opportunity to outline his priorities for new legislation.

You can watch the address live on C-Span and on most of the major television networks on Tuesday. Tuning in at 8:00 will give you plenty of time before the speech begins at 9:00. You can also watch a live stream online on the White House website along with charts, graphs, and other information. If you can't catch it live, the video will be posted on the White House and C-SPAN websites shortly afterward.

Again by tradition, the news networks give television time to a member of the opposing party to deliver a rebuttal address after the State of the Union. This year, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels will deliver the Republicans’ rebuttal. Herman Cain will give the Tea Party Express response.

If you’ve never paid much attention to your government, this is a good time and place to start.

For More Information The White House
The American Presidency Project: State of the Union Addresses and Messages
C-SPAN
Read the Constitution

Executive Orders and the U.S. Constitution

There’s a completely absurd rumor out there now that President Obama has issued 15 Executive Orders giving himself the power to take control of all transportation, electrical power, communications media, food, and other national resources. It’s an absolute lie. President John Kennedy issued those order numbers--10990 through 11005--and they have nothing to do with those subjects. But many conservatives delight in criticizing Obama for using any of the many tools at his disposal when doing his job. Executive Orders are a particular favorite.


Once again, the goofballs exploit the public’s civic and political illiteracy to spread their lies. They claim that Executive Orders are unconstitutional, yet they didn’t have that problem with any orders issued by Republican presidents.


Executive Orders are constitutionally valid. Presidents issue the orders to give specific instructions to their employees for doing their jobs. The Constitution’s Article II, Section 1, Clause 1: The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America gives the president that authority. Each order’s preamble states his specific legal authority for the subject of the order. And every president has issued Executive Orders. Governors and mayors also issue Executive Orders to their staffs.


Executive Orders are not laws. Presidents don't make laws. Congress does. The president is the head of the executive branch of government. The executive branch manages the country's daily business through the 15 cabinet departments:


• Department of State
• Department of the Treasury
• Department of Defense
• Department of Justice
• Department of the Interior
• Department of Agriculture
• Department of Commerce
• Department of Labor
• Department of Health and Human Services
• Department of Housing and Urban Development
• Department of Transportation
• Department of Energy
• Department of Education
• Department of Veterans Affairs
• Department of Homeland Security


and the six cabinet-level offices:


• White House Chief of Staff
• Environmental Protection Agency
• Office of Management & Budget
• United States Trade Representative
• United States Ambassador to the United Nations
• Council of Economic Advisers


The orders are numbered consecutively. George Washington issued EO number 1. To date, President Obama has issued 107 Executive Orders, numbered 13489 through 13596. That’s an average of about 309 orders per president. President Herbert Hoover--a Republican--holds the record at 1,011.The two most recent, issued on December 19, change the membership of the President’s Export Council and freeze the pay of certain categories of federal employees.


Once issued, the orders are published in the Federal Register, which is a daily record of all executive branch actions. It’s like the government’s daily newspaper. The Federal Register also publishes regulations and announcements. The National Archives collects and stores the orders. You can see a table of orders issued by president here. You can read the full text of Obama’s Executive Orders at the White House website.


For more information:
• President Obama’s Executive Orders
• The National Archives: Executive Orders FAQs
• The president’s cabinet
• The Federal Register