What Is the Filibuster? How the Senate's 60-Vote Rule Works
Reviewed:
A filibuster is any effort to block or delay a Senate vote by extending debate. Senate rules let debate continue until senators vote to end it, so a determined minority can stop a bill without having the votes to defeat it.
Cloture: the 60-vote rule
Ending debate is called cloture. The Senate first adopted a cloture rule in 1917, requiring two-thirds of senators voting. In 1975 it lowered the bar to three-fifths of all senators duly chosen and sworn: 60 of 100. Today a filibuster rarely means a senator talking for hours; the threat of one is usually enough, so most major bills in practice need 60 votes to pass.
What needs only a simple majority
- Nominations: in November 2013 the Senate lowered cloture to a simple majority for executive-branch nominees and most judges, and in April 2017 extended that to Supreme Court nominees.
- Budget reconciliation: under the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, certain tax and spending bills have limited debate and pass with a simple majority. Their content is restricted (the "Byrd rule").
- Some other measures with expedited procedures written into law, such as resolutions to overturn recent agency rules under the Congressional Review Act.
The "nuclear option"
Changing the Senate's rules formally takes a two-thirds vote. The 2013 and 2017 changes were made instead by a simple-majority vote to set a new precedent, which critics and supporters alike call the "nuclear option." Proposals to end or carve exceptions into the legislative filibuster come up whenever one party controls the Senate but lacks 60 votes.
Sources: U.S. Senate, "About Filibusters and Cloture"; Congressional Research Service, "Filibusters and Cloture in the Senate".
Questions and answers
How many votes does it take to end a filibuster?
Sixty: three-fifths of all senators duly chosen and sworn. That vote is called cloture.
Do nominations need 60 votes?
No. Since 2013 (executive nominees and most judges) and 2017 (Supreme Court nominees), ending debate on nominations takes a simple majority.
What is budget reconciliation?
A process under the 1974 Congressional Budget Act that lets certain tax and spending bills pass the Senate with a simple majority and limited debate.