Ridge Runner Chroniciles – April 17, 2025
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By Bill Hoagland
The Senate Filibuster—Does It Really Serve a Purpose?
About two weeks ago, Senator Cory Booker made history by delivering a filibuster on the floor of the US Senate that lasted 25 hours and 5 minutes; that was the longest filibuster ever. We are told that he never left the room to eat or take a potty break so he must have had some unique plumbing going on in his pants. Technically, this was not a real, true filibuster because it was not being done to block or delay a vote on specific legislation. Instead, Booker was simply protesting current policies being pursued by the Trump administration. The irony of this event is that during the Biden administration, there was talk among Democrats that they intended to abolish the filibuster but now that Democrats may be using the filibuster often during the Trump administration, they might think the filibuster isn’t so bad after all.
This raises the question as to whether the Senate filibuster should be abolished or whether it still serves a useful purpose.
You may be surprised to learn that a form of the modern day filibuster existed in the Roman Empire. The rule was that before a vote on any issue could be held, all current senators in Rome had to speak about the proposed issue before it could be put to a vote and become effective. Because all meetings of the Roman Senate had to end by nightfall, a senator could literally talk until nightfall and effectively kill a vote on a particular issue. This tradition of marathon talking to delay or kill a vote on an underlying issue has continued to the present time in the legislatures in many countries around the world. Frankly, it is not a popular practice. In fact, the name “filibuster” in Spain meant a “freebooter”, someone who was a lawless plunderer robbing supply trains and starting unnecessary wars; obviously a filibuster was not a person traditionally held in high regard.
The right to filibuster is not a right spelled out in the US Constitution. While it has been a tolerated practice in the US Senate (but not the US House of Representatives) for over 200 years, the current form of filibuster in the US Senate took shape in 1917, when certain senators tried to delay a vote on whether the US should enter World War I. Since then, there have been certain refinements to the right to filibuster but the current rule is that a Senator can generally talk as long as he wants to delay a vote, provided he remain in the Senate Chamber during his speech. A filibuster can be terminated, however, if a minimum of 60 Senators vote to end the discussion on a specific subject. This shutting down of a filibuster is referred to as “cloture”. (There are special rules for using the filibuster to block votes on judicial candidates, which we will not discuss here.)
There is no requirement that you must talk specifically about the pros and cons of the vote that you are trying to defeat. Instead, you can talk about any subject you desire. In fact, Senator Huey Long in 1937 during one of his filibusters talked about how to fry oysters just to drag out the time; Senator Ted Cruz recited passages from Dr. Suess while filibustering the Affordable Care Act; and someone else recited Shakespeare during a filibuster. Regardless of what is actually said during a filibuster, the issue boils down to whether permitting unlimited filibusters serves a useful purpose. Some say it is a complete waste of time. While I lack the expertise to comment in depth, it certainly seems that if the Republicans support filibusters when not in power and if Democrats support filibusters when not in power, there must be some value in keeping filibusters around. And if allowing filibuster will somehow encourage our US Senators to eventually compromise on certain issues, then that would seem to be a desirable practice to keep for all of us.
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■ Bill Hoagland has practiced law in Alton for more than 50 years, but he has spent more than 70 years hunting, fishing and generally being in the great outdoors. His wife, Annie, shares his love of the outdoor life. Much of their spare time is spent on their farm in Calhoun County. Bill can be reached at [email protected].
