Which specific Senators filibustered the bills to open the government?

January 24, 2019 2:22 PM

Who fillibustered today's bills to open the government? Was there one or more specific Democrats who fillibustered the Republican favored bill? Which ones? Was there one or more specific Republicans who fillibustered the Democratic favored bill? Which ones?
posted by crocodiletsunami to Law & Government (16 answers total)

Neither were filibustered. They were both voted down. The Democrat-favored bill had a 52-to-44 vote (60 votes needed to pass). The Republican-favored bill had a 50-to-47 vote (60 votes needed to pass). The Washington Post has the details, including which Senators crossed the aisle to vote for which bill.
posted by aabbbiee at 2:29 PM on January 24, 2019

I don't see any mention of a filibuster.

On the votes, from the Washington Post:

"The Senate rejected Trump’s proposal to end the shutdown ... The measure failed on a 50-to-47 vote, with Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) crossing party lines to vote against the measure and Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) joining most Republicans in voting yes. ...

In its second vote of the day, the Senate rejected a Democratic bill to reopen the government through Feb. 8. The measure failed on a 52-to-44 vote. A half-dozen Republicans, including Sens. Lamar Alexander (Tenn.), Susan Collins (Maine), Cory Gardner (Colo.), Johnny Isakson (Ga.), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Mitt Romney (Utah), defied Trump, voting with Democrats in favor of the measure."
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 2:30 PM on January 24, 2019

Response by poster: Why did the bills need 60 votes instead of 50?
posted by crocodiletsunami at 2:32 PM on January 24, 2019

Yeah, the 60 votes thing operates on the threat of a filibuster (a threat which is now assumed to be in place 100% of the time except in specific situations where the filibuster has been done away with) rather than any actual filibusters happening. It's a weird sort of handshake agreement wherein both parties have decided that since at any time they could take the floor and filibuster, neither of them have to actually do it.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 2:33 PM on January 24, 2019 [5 favorites]

Here’s where you can find Senate floor activity by day. There are links on the daily floor activity summary to each roll call vote.

Cloture on Trump/McConnell wall amendment
Cloture on Schumer amendment (don’t know how it differs from the House text)
posted by Huffy Puffy at 2:57 PM on January 24, 2019 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Now I'm confused again. If this is an official "cloture" vote, doesn't someone have to be on record as filibustering?
posted by crocodiletsunami at 3:23 PM on January 24, 2019

We’d have to go back to the video to be sure, but it may be a unanimous consent thing to go to the vote, somebody objects, and so they can’t vote unless there’s a cloture motion. So you don’t have to talk, you just have to object. But you’d have to parse the floor activity more closely than I could tell from the floor summary.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 3:34 PM on January 24, 2019

It's a function of current Senate rules. On certain types of votes, cloture must be invoked regardless so 60 votes are always needed. No one actually needs to filibuster.

Whoever controls the Senate can change the rules and kill the automatic filibuster so all bills only need 50 votes unless there's an actual filibuster. Democrats could do this if they get 51 Senate seats in 2020, but they probably won't.
posted by no regrets, coyote at 4:14 PM on January 24, 2019

You're thinking of Mr Smith Goes To Washington filibustering, which hasn't existed since the early 1970s.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 4:16 PM on January 24, 2019

Also while it's common for people to describe cloture as the thing that ends filibusters, it really just "ends" debate -- there's still a lengthy period for it afterwards but with a definite end time -- and forces a vote on the underlying measure. I don't have my copy of the oleszek bible with me but IIRC you can invoke cloture entirely pre-emptively, "ending" debate before it's begun.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 4:18 PM on January 24, 2019

Response by poster: On certain types of votes, cloture must be invoked regardless so 60 votes are always needed. No one actually needs to filibuster.

Which types of votes?
posted by crocodiletsunami at 4:39 PM on January 24, 2019

hasn't existed since the early 1970s.

Maybe I’m missing something about what is hinted at there, but from my perspective, Wendy Davis carried out an old school, hard core filibuster in 2013:

On June 25, 2013, Davis held a thirteen-hour-long filibuster to block Senate Bill 5
posted by SaltySalticid at 6:44 PM on January 24, 2019 [1 favorite]

Wendy Davis isn't in the US Senate.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 7:09 PM on January 24, 2019 [1 favorite]

The Wikipedia write up on cloture/filibuster is thorough and easy to follow.

Today’s votes were both cloture votes that sought to end debate (or, end any possibility of a filibuster). Both votes failed to meet the 60 votes required to envoke cloture, which means debate on both bills is still open, and so is the possibility for someone to do an actual Wendy Davis/James Stewart filibuster. Since that would be a massive waste of everyone’s time, and there is other business to attend to, they just say screw it, it is blocked, let’s shelve it and move on.

The House doesn’t have a similar cloture/filibuster mechanism, however during the last Congress Nancy Pelosi gave an eight hour speech on the floor as a kind of filibuster in opposition to immigration policy. (Yes, even in the minority Nancy Pelosi was a badass.)
posted by notyou at 10:10 PM on January 24, 2019 [3 favorites]

At the "Nuclear option" page, Wikipedia offers some history of the 60-vote rule, including when it has been restricted, i.e. judicial nominations.

WaPo (12/21/2018) has referred to it as a Senate rule:

Trump also urged McConnell to “use the Nuclear Option and get it done!”

That was a reference to a Senate rule that requires 60 votes to advance most legislation. Trump was advocating that McConnell change the rule so that only 51 votes are required. By doing that, Republicans would be able to pass a bill without Democratic cooperation in a chamber in which Republicans hold 51 seats.

But a McConnell spokesman soon put out a statement making clear that wouldn’t happen.

The NYT (12/21/2018) referred to it in the context of the filibuster:

The president talked at length about the wall and repeatedly pressed the senators about eliminating the filibuster so they could fund it with 51 votes.

posted by Little Dawn at 4:48 AM on January 26, 2019

This looks like one of the exceptions: McConnell privately cautions Trump about emergency declaration on border wall (WaPo)

a growing concern for Republicans — which McConnell voiced to Trump at the White House — is that they would be forced to vote on a disapproval resolution aimed at overturning the declaration, and that the resolution would pass.

That would take place under provisions of the National Emergencies Act, which provides that a presidential declaration can be terminated if lawmakers pass a joint resolution to do so. House Democrats would be likely to move swiftly to approve such a resolution, and the law provides that it would come to the Senate floor, where it would require only a majority vote to pass.

posted by Little Dawn at 5:51 PM on February 1, 2019