What is the filibuster?
The filibuster is a Senate rule, not a law and not part of the Constitution. Before the Senate can vote on most bills, it has to vote to end debate, a step called "cloture." Since 1975, cloture has taken three-fifths of the Senate, which is 60 of 100 senators. Before that it took two-thirds of those voting, and before 1917 the Senate's rules had no way to end debate at all.[1] So in practice, most bills need 60 votes to pass the Senate, not 51.
Why it matters to you
We elect a majority to pass the things it ran on. The filibuster lets the minority block them without ever winning the argument. Forty-one senators can stop a bill that fifty-nine support. And clearing that bar has become routine. In 2011 and 2012, senators filed 115 cloture motions. In 2021 and 2022, they filed 336.[2]
We've seen what it costs. In January 2022 the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act got 49 votes to end debate, short of the 60 required, and the bill died.[3] Every Republican voted against moving forward, and 60 was out of reach.
The Senate already knows how to change this. In 2013 it voted to let most presidential nominations through with a simple majority, and in 2017 it did the same for Supreme Court nominees.[4][5] Both times, the majority party at the time lowered the bar. Laws that touch your paycheck, your health care and your vote deserve the same treatment as a cabinet nominee.
The objection: "You'll want it when you're in the minority"
Sometimes, yes. On September 30, 2026, Senate Democrats used the 60-vote rule to block a Republican stock-trading bill that also carried a voter ID provision. It failed 53 to 47.[6] That's a real trade-off, and we're not going to pretend it isn't. We'd still rather lose a vote like that one than keep a rule that lets 41 senators stop almost anything. But the answer to bad bills is winning elections and voting them down, not a rule that blocks good and bad bills alike. When voters don't like what a majority passes, they can throw that majority out. That only works if the majority is allowed to pass things in the first place.
Sources
- U.S. Senate, "About Filibusters and Cloture." https://www.senate.gov/about/powers-procedures/filibusters-cloture.htm
- U.S. Senate, "Senate Action on Cloture Motions." https://www.senate.gov/legislative/cloture/clotureCounts.htm
- U.S. Senate, Roll Call Vote 9, 117th Congress, 2nd Session, January 19, 2022. https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1172/vote_117_2_00009.htm
- Congressional Research Service, "Majority Cloture for Nominations: Implications and the 'Nuclear' Proceedings" (R43331), December 2013. https://www.everycrsreport.com/files/20131206_R43331_58e253c807084f68bd15eddbd49cfc6f2428fb8a.html
- Congressional Research Service, "Senate Proceedings Establishing Majority Cloture for Supreme Court Nominations" (R44819), April 2017. https://www.everycrsreport.com/files/20170414_R44819_a3e18789f82a6306053f71b975e2c12702fbe701.html
- Roll Call, "Lawmakers' stock trading bill falls short in Senate," September 30, 2026. https://rollcall.com/2026/09/30/lawmakers-stock-trading-bill-falls-short-in-senate/