When is a 35 less than 54? When Democrats in the U.S. Senate are trying to investigate the assault on American democracy on Jan. 6. You see, the U.S. Senate has an arcane rule called the filibuster that says there must be 60 votes out of 10, to close debate on a bill and actually vote on the bill.

This power is not codified in the Constitution or even in statute. It is merely a Standing Rule of the Senate and could be changed or eliminated by a simple majority of senators. This rule goes back over 200 years but wasn’t widely used until conservative Southern Democrats used it to fight against the Civil Rights Acts of 1957 and 1964. 

Tags

(0) comments

Welcome to the discussion.

Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.

Post a comment
Stop watching this discussion.