Every President who has stepped into office in the last decade has made the same complaint: kill the filibuster. While their motivations are clear and sensible, they want to get stuff done, it is not in the best interest of collaboration and democracy. The filibuster is a vital tradition to upholding American values and protecting the rights of the minority
To answer why it is important, we must start with what the filibuster actually is. The literal definition of the filibuster in the US Senate is the procedural obstruction to Senate business through extended speech. To put it simply, it is when representatives delay or block voting on a bill by talking for too long.
It was first introduced in 1806 when the Senate added “unlimited debate to its rules, and it has become ingrained in the tradition of the Senate. On paper, the Senate needs only a simple majority (51 votes) to pass bills and laws. However, to end the filibuster, you need 60 votes to make an action called “closure”, which officially ends debate. Otherwise, it is impossible to get tthe o voting. This means that in practice, since 1806, the 60-vote threshold is what is actually required to pass legislation (bills or laws), rather than only 51.
The main reason why the filibuster is so valuable, beyond just being a centuries-old Senate tradition, is that it promotes collaboration and bipartisanship (working together across different parties). When a greater majority is required to pass a bill, it means that more of America is supporting that bill than otherwise, upholding the values of democracy. Not only that, the filibuster ensures that even if you are in the minority in the Senate, you still have a say in whether or not it gets passed. This prevents radical legislation from being enacted and ensures that the U.S. government is acting in the best interest of its citizens.
Photo by Alec Perkins from Wikimedia Commons
The Senate is also fiercely divided along party lines, with a current 53-47 split favoring Republicans. The filibuster prevents the majority party from doing whatever it wants, requiring that parties work together on legislation, which makes the bills and laws more representative of what America really wants.
Many people argue that the filibuster prevents efficiency in government by slowing down the time it takes to pass necessary legislation or even blocking it. However, the Senate has been intended to be slow and purposeful since it was established. In fact, George Washington even remarked to Thomas Jefferson that the Senate was meant to “cool” House legislation (legislation passed in the House of Representatives) like a saucer to hot tea, since legislation generally passes in the House quite quickly.
Without the Senate filibuster, the country would likely look a lot more radical than it does today. We must keep the filibuster, because it is a valuable tradition that helps the U.S. government preserve order and democracy,
