ConfirmThem

By AndrewHyman Posted in Senate Rules — Comments () / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

NPR's Morning Edition has some filibuster coverage today. Senator Hagel mentions that he "will vote" if there is a vote on the "constitutional option," rather than abstain. But, he doesn't say which way he'll vote.

Also, Nathan at Brain Fertilizer wrote a piece titled "Filibustering the Nuclear Option," urging a traditional filibuster in which people actually have to get up and speak. Some people object to this idea, because they say that the minority can simply put one person on the floor to speak, while the majority must maintain 50 Senators on the floor to ensure a quorum. But it's not that simple.

Suppose, for example, that there is an attempt at a rule change, which is filibustered. Rule 22 requires 2/3 of Senators "present" instead of 2/3 of the full Senate to get cloture. It seems to me that the rule change cannot be successfully filibustered if at any time the majority outnumbers the minority by more than two to one, because a two-to-one vote of Senators present (e.g. 50 GOP Senators to 25 Dem Senators) can indisputably invoke cloture on a rule change. Thus, the Dems would apparently have to maintain at least half as many Senators on the floor as the GOP. The only problem would be that, if less than 50 Senators are supportive of the rule change, then the Dems could bolt off the Senate floor and thus deny a quorum (although the GOP could compel attendance).

And that's my speech on parliamentary procedure for today.