By Susan Cornwell October 6, 2021 6:17 AM EDT
To “filibuster” means to delay action on a bill or other issue by talking.
The Senate filibuster first captured the American imagination in Frank Capra’s 1939 movie “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” when Jimmy Stewart’s character spoke for more than a day, and more recently in 2013 when Texas state Senator Wendy Davis spoke for 13 hours to try to block a bill imposing new restrictions on abortion.
The popular image of a lone lawmaker mounting an impassioned hours-long argument belies the reality in today’s Senate, where a mere threat is enough to initiate a filibuster and hold up a bill. A filibuster can only be stopped if a supermajority of 60 senators vote to end debate in a process called cloture.
Although the U.S. Constitution makes no mention of filibusters, long-winded Senate speeches became an increasingly common tactic in the 19th century. By 1917 most senators had had enough, agreeing that a vote by a two-thirds majority could end debate. But getting two-thirds of the Senate was hard, so filibusters continued. Notoriously, they were used by southern senators who sought to block civil rights laws.
In 1975, the Senate reduced the requirement for limiting debate to three-fifths of the Senate – currently 60 senators. In that decade, the Senate leadership began agreeing to allow measures that were facing a filibuster to be put aside while the chamber acted on other bills.