Can someone here on DU please explain the current Filibuster

[Upthevibe]

rules?

I know I could google it but I'd value DU'er's posts and insights regarding this incredibly important issue.

I think I heard (but I may have misheard) that there needs to be at least 41 Senators on the floor while it's going on. Also, I think they have to speak for at least a certain amount of time.

If our Senators (with Schumer leading) aren't doing EVERYTHING they can do (including rewriting rules that aren't laws - like what McConnell did) why aren't they?

Thanks for your feedback......

[Demsrule86]

1. Why is there always a rush to blame Democrats which seems to me what this is about...you need

51 votes in order to end the filibuster. We don't have the votes...the most famous naysayers are Sinema and Manchin. But it is my opinion that there are other Democratic Senators who don't want to end the filibuster as well but are keeping their powder dry. There is nothing that can be done without 51 votes. We have a 50 50 Senate.

[Upthevibe]

4. Demsrule86...I'm absolutely NOT blaming the Democrats....

I simply asked if anything can be done. You don't need to be so rude....

[JT45242]

2. Current filibuster rules

"Filibusters then became a regular feature of Senate activity, both in the run-up to and aftermath of the Civil War. Senate leaders from both parties sought, but failed, to ban the filibuster throughout the 19th century. Opponents would simply filibuster the motion to ban the filibuster. In 1917, as part of a debate over a proposal to arm American merchant ships as the U.S. prepared to enter World War I, the chamber adopted the first version of its cloture rule: It allowed two-thirds of all senators present and voting to end debate on “any pending measure.” Several changes to the rule followed in the coming decades. More recently, in 1975, the number of votes needed to invoke cloture on legislative matters was reduced to three-fifths (or 60, if the Senate is at full strength). In 1979 and 1986, the Senate further limited debate once the Senate had imposed cloture on the pending business.

Consequently, for many matters in the Senate, debate can only be cut off if at least 60 senators support doing so. (This is not universally true, however, and we will see several consequential counterexamples below.) While Senate rules still require just a simple majority to actually pass a bill, several procedural steps along the way require a supermajority of 60 votes to end debate on bills."

[link:https://www.brookings.edu/policy2020/votervital/what-is-the-senate-filibuster-and-what-would-it-take-to-eliminate-it/|

[Upthevibe]

5. JT45242...

Thank you....

[hedda_foil]

3. What you heard was one of several ideas about how to FIX the current filibuster rule.

[Upthevibe]

6. hedda_foil...

Thank you....

[hedda_foil]

7. You're very welcome, Upthevibe!