Editing Filibuster (section)

==United States==

===Senate===
{{Main|Filibuster in the United States Senate}}
The filibuster is a powerful legislative device in the [[United States Senate]]. [[Standing Rules of the United States Senate|Senate rules]] permit a senator or senators to speak for as long as they wish and on any topic they choose, unless "three-fifths of the Senators duly chosen and sworn"<ref name="rule22">{{Cite web |title=Rules Of The Senate: Precedence of Motions (Rule XXII) |url=https://www.rules.senate.gov/rules-of-the-senate |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20171230230509/https://www.rules.senate.gov/rules-of-the-senate |archive-date=December 30, 2017 |access-date=March 3, 2022 |website=[[United States Senate Committee on Rules and Administration]] |publisher=United States Senate}}</ref> (usually 60 out of 100 senators) bring debate to a close by invoking [[cloture]] under [[Standing Rules of the United States Senate, Rule XXII|Senate Rule XXII]].  Even if a filibuster attempt is unsuccessful, the process takes floor time.<ref name="crs">{{Cite book |last1=Beth |first1=Richard |url=https://www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/RL30360.pdf |title=Filibusters and Cloture in the Senate |last2=Stanley Bach |date=March 28, 2003 |publisher=[[Congressional Research Service]] |pages=4, 9 |access-date=February 16, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171029013436/https://www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/RL30360.pdf |archive-date=October 29, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref>  Defenders call the filibuster "The Soul of the Senate".<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Richard A. Arenberg |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4W_fWklB_GkC&pg=PA1 |title=Defending the Filibuster: The Soul of the Senate |last2=Robert B. Dove |publisher=Indiana U.P. |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-253-00191-7}}</ref>

The procedure is not enumerated in the [[U.S. Constitution]]; it only became theoretically possible with a change of Senate rules in 1806, and was not used until 1837.<ref name="Binder">{{Cite web |last=Binder |first=Sarah |date=April 22, 2010 |title=The History of the Filibuster |url=http://www.brookings.edu/research/testimony/2010/04/22-filibuster-binder |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130221080043/http://www.brookings.edu/research/testimony/2010/04/22-filibuster-binder |archive-date=February 21, 2013 |access-date=June 14, 2012 |website=Brookings}}</ref> Rarely used for much of the Senate's first two centuries, it was strengthened in the 1970s,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jonathan Backer |url=http://fixthesenatenow.org/news/entry/brennan-center-for-justice-a-short-history-on-the-constitutional-option/#.UPXgdY44S21 |title=Brennan Center for Justice: A Short History on the Constitutional Option |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121221012437/http://fixthesenatenow.org/news/entry/brennan-center-for-justice-a-short-history-on-the-constitutional-option |archive-date=2012-12-21 |url-status=usurped}}</ref> and especially since the 2010s<ref>{{Cite web |title=U.S. Senate: About Filibusters and Cloture {{!}} Historical Overview |url=https://www.senate.gov/about/powers-procedures/filibusters-cloture/overview.htm |access-date=2023-03-20 |website=www.senate.gov}}</ref> the majority has preferred to avoid filibusters by moving to other business when a filibuster is threatened and attempts to achieve cloture have failed.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Gregory John Wawro |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iCrtXipvJigC |title=Filibuster: Obstruction And Lawmaking in the U.S. Senate |last2=Eric Schickler |publisher=Princeton U.P. |year=2006 |isbn=0-691-12509-0 |pages=1–12}}</ref>  As a result, in recent decades this has come to mean that all major legislation (apart from [[Reconciliation (United States Congress)|budget reconciliation]], which requires a simple 51-vote majority) now requires a 60-vote majority to pass.

[[File:Senator Murphy gun control filibuster.webm|thumb|US Senator [[Chris Murphy]] engaging in a filibuster]]

Under current Senate rules, any modification or limitation of the filibuster would be a rule change that itself could be filibustered, with two-thirds of those senators present and voting (as opposed to the normal three-fifths of those sworn) needing to vote to break the filibuster.<ref name=rule22/>  However, under Senate precedents, a simple majority can act (and has acted) to limit the practice by overruling decisions of the chair.  The removal or substantial limitation of the filibuster by a simple majority, rather than a rule change, is called the constitutional option by proponents,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2010-03-28 |title=The Need for the Constitutional Option |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/its-time-for-the-constitu_b_436935 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220630204044/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/its-time-for-the-constitu_b_436935 |archive-date=2022-06-30 |access-date=2022-06-30 |website=HuffPost |language=en}}</ref> and the [[nuclear option]] by opponents.

On November 21, 2013, the Democratic-controlled Senate voted 52 to 48 to require only a majority vote to end a filibuster of all executive and judicial nominees, excluding Supreme Court nominees, rather than the three-fifths of votes previously required.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Peters |first=Jeremy W. |date=2013-11-21 |title=In Landmark Vote, Senate Limits Use of the Filibuster |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/22/us/politics/reid-sets-in-motion-steps-to-limit-use-of-filibuster.html?hpw&rref=us&_r=0 |url-status=live |access-date=2017-02-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170225205846/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/22/us/politics/reid-sets-in-motion-steps-to-limit-use-of-filibuster.html?hpw&rref=us&_r=0 |archive-date=2017-02-25}}</ref> On April 6, 2017, the Republican-controlled Senate voted 52 to 48 to require only a majority vote to end a filibuster of Supreme Court nominees.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-04-06 |title=Senate OKs 'nuclear option,' clears path for high court nomination vote |url=http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/senate-approves-nuclear-option-fight-gorsuch-supreme-court/story?id=46608672 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170407002940/http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/senate-approves-nuclear-option-fight-gorsuch-supreme-court/story?id=46608672 |archive-date=2017-04-07 |access-date=2017-04-06 |website=ABC News}}</ref>  A three-fifths (60 vote) supermajority is still required to end filibusters on legislation.

While president, [[Donald Trump]] spoke out against the 60-vote requirement for legislation on several occasions.<ref name="cbs1">{{Cite web |title=Trump calls for end to filibuster, says Senate Republicans "look like fools" |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-calls-for-end-to-filibuster-says-senate-republicans-look-like-fools/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221123175518/https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/trump-calls-for-end-to-filibuster-says-senate-republicans-look-like-fools/ |archive-date=2022-11-23 |access-date=2022-11-23 |website=[[CBS News]]|date=July 29, 2017 }}</ref><ref name="politico1">{{Cite web |title=Trump to GOP: Dump the filibuster before Schumer does - POLITICO |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2018/06/26/donald-trump-kill-the-filibuster-677151 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221123181023/https://www.politico.com/amp/story/2018/06/26/donald-trump-kill-the-filibuster-677151 |archive-date=2022-11-23 |access-date=2022-11-23 |website=[[Politico]]|date=June 26, 2018 }}</ref> In opposition to Trump, Senate Majority Leader [[Mitch McConnell]] committed to not abolish the filibuster for legislation; in April 2017, a broad mix of 61 senators (32 Republicans, 28 Democrats, and one independent)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Senators sign letter to preserve filibuster rules |date=April 7, 2017 |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2017/04/07/politics/senate-filibuster-rules-letter/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221123175521/https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2017/04/07/politics/senate-filibuster-rules-letter/index.html |archive-date=2022-11-23 |access-date=2022-11-23}}</ref> signed a letter stating their support for the 60-vote threshold and their opposition to abolishing the filibuster for legislation.<ref name="cbs1" />

In 2021, the Senate filibuster's past, particularly its historical usage in blocking civil rights legislation, a practice described by the [[Associated Press]] as racist, fuelled arguments for its end.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-04-20 |title=Senate filibuster's racist past fueled arguments for its end |url=https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-race-and-ethnicity-senate-elections-filibusters-voting-rights-407aa6edeae59bb88c52f02b511bdc2e |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220119032826/https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-race-and-ethnicity-senate-elections-filibusters-voting-rights-407aa6edeae59bb88c52f02b511bdc2e |archive-date=2022-01-19 |access-date=2022-01-19 |website=AP NEWS |language=en}}</ref> On January 19, 2022, the Democratic-controlled Senate voted to change the filibuster. The vote, however, failed 52–48, due to the defection of Democratic Senators [[Joe Manchin]] and [[Kyrsten Sinema]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-01-20 |title=Senate votes down filibuster change as Manchin, Sinema side with Republicans |url=https://nypost.com/2022/01/19/voting-bill-blocked-by-gop-filibuster/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220517230614/https://nypost.com/2022/01/19/voting-bill-blocked-by-gop-filibuster/ |archive-date=2022-05-17 |access-date=2022-05-03 |website=New York Post |language=en-US}}</ref>

On April 1, 2025, [[Cory Booker]] gave the longest senate speech in American history, known as [[Cory Booker's marathon speech]], surpassing the previous record of [[Strom Thurmond filibuster of the Civil Rights Act of 1957|Strom Thurmond's filibuster of the Civil Rights Act of 1957]]. This speech, however, was not a filibuster, as there was no vote on a bill being blocked.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Murphy |first=Chad |title=Is Cory Booker's speech the longest in Senate history? It's not a filibuster. What to know |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2025/04/01/cory-booker-speech-longest-senate-history-filibuster/82757263007/ |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=USA TODAY |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Ibrahim |first=Nur |date=2025-04-02 |title=Cory Booker's marathon Senate speech broke record, but it wasn't a filibuster |url=https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/cory-booker-filibuster-senate/ |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=Snopes |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Popli |first=Nik |date=2025-04-01 |title=What to Know About Cory Booker Marathon Anti-Trump Speech |url=https://time.com/7273417/cory-booker-filibuster-speech-senate/ |access-date=2025-04-08 |magazine=TIME |language=en}}</ref>

=== House of Representatives ===
In the [[United States House of Representatives]], the filibuster (the right to unlimited debate) was used until 1842, when a permanent rule limiting the duration of debate was created.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Oleszek |first=Walter |date=1998-12-01 |title=A Pre-Twentieth Century Look at the House Committee on Rules |url=https://archives-democrats-rules.house.gov/Archives/pre20th_rules.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220206151719/https://archives-democrats-rules.house.gov/Archives/pre20th_rules.htm |archive-date=2022-02-06 |access-date=2022-06-30 |website=The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Rules}}</ref> The [[disappearing quorum]] was a tactic used by the minority until [[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives|Speaker]] [[Thomas Brackett Reed]] eliminated it in 1890.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Litt |first=David |date=2021-03-08 |title=We Already Got Rid of the Filibuster Once Before |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/03/we-already-got-rid-filibuster-once-before/618201/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220615225707/https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/03/we-already-got-rid-filibuster-once-before/618201/ |archive-date=2022-06-15 |access-date=2022-06-30 |website=[[The Atlantic]] |language=en}}</ref> As the membership of the House grew much larger than the [[United States Senate|Senate]], the House had acted earlier to control floor debate and the delay and blocking of floor votes. The [[magic minute]] allows party leaders to speak for as long as they wish, which [[Kevin McCarthy]] used in 2021 to set a record for the longest speech on the House floor (8 hours and 33 minutes) in opposition to the [[Build Back Better Act]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=November 19, 2021 |title=Kevin McCarthy breaks record for longest-ever House speech, talking for more than 8 hours to obstruct Biden's social-spending bill |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/mccarthy-breaks-house-record-8hr-speech-block-biden-spending-2021-11 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211119122548/https://www.businessinsider.com/mccarthy-breaks-house-record-8hr-speech-block-biden-spending-2021-11 |archive-date=November 19, 2021 |access-date=November 19, 2021 |website=Business Insider}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=November 19, 2021 |title=McCarthy delays spending bill vote with longest speech ever on House floor |url=https://www.foxnews.com/live-news/spending-bill-vote |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211119064055/https://www.foxnews.com/live-news/spending-bill-vote |archive-date=November 19, 2021 |access-date=November 19, 2021 |website=Fox News}}</ref>

=== State legislatures ===
{{Main|Comparison of U.S. state governments}}

Only 14 state legislatures permit a filibuster:
* [[Alabama]]
* [[Alaska]]
* [[Arkansas]]
* [[Connecticut]]
* [[Florida]]
* [[Hawaii]]
* [[Idaho]]
* [[Maine]]
* [[Missouri]]
* [[Nebraska]]
* [[South Carolina]]
* [[Texas]]
* [[Utah]]
* [[Vermont]]