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Harkin Filibuster Reform Proposal
Former Iowa Senator Tom Harkin has been pushing for filibuster reform for more than 20 years. During his 30 years of public service, he experienced the Senate from the perspective of both majority and minority control. Harkin first introduced filibuster reform in 1995, when his party was in the minority — defying the conventional support of the filibuster by minority leadership. This article reviews his proposed reform and then digs a little deeper into the reasons for his proposal. Harkin’s proposal This proposal would amend the Standing Rules of the Senate to permit a decreasing majority of senators to invoke cloture (end filibuster and move legislation forward toward a vote)…
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Filibuster Reform
Joe Manchin’s leaked call and apparent softening on the question of filibuster reform has given new energy to the questions of whether and how to reform this Senate rule in keeping with historic tradition and the goal of encouraging compromise. The historic tradition is complicated. The Constitution does not mandate this rule, and both James Madison and Alexander Hamilton wrote about how dangerous it would be to require supermajorities for decision making in Congress. In 1805, Aaron Burr suggested dropping the rule about how to end debate on the Senate floor, as he was trying to simplify the Senate rules as a matter of bureaucratic housekeeping. At the time, it…
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What Is the Filibuster?
Prior to a bill being passed into law by the Senate, it is brought up for debate. During the debate, the U.S. Senate rules allow a senator (or a series of senators) to speak for as long as they wish, and on whatever they wish, and the bill cannot be voted on until debate has ended. A senator or senators can, then, speak for an extended period of time with the sole purpose of preventing a vote on the bill and/or refuse to vote to end the debate. This obstructive tactic, known as the filibuster, isn’t part of the Constitution but an inadvertent result of an 1806 rule change. The…
