Republican Scott Brown’s recent victory in the Massachusetts Senatorial election broke the Democratic supermajority in the Senate and called into question the legitimacy of a popular senate procedure: the filibuster.
The filibuster is a tool used by senators who wish to halt the passing of undesired legislation. Senators in opposition to the bill in question may stand on the senate floor and debate their point of view until a three-fifths majority of senators votes to end debate.
Under current senate rules, a supermajority of 60 senators out of 100 must invoke cloture, which is the official procedure for ending a filibuster.
The issue at hand for the last few months has been health care reform, a bill largely supported by Democrats and opposed by Republicans.
After Brown’s victory, there are 59 Democrats and 41 Republicans in the Senate, preventing the Democrats from invoking cloture and ending the Republican filibuster by one vote.
Former Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis, who is a visiting professor at UCLA this quarter, said the supermajority rule is “outrageous.”
“Health care would have been done four months ago without the filibuster,” he said.
Others, like Bruin Republicans Issues Director Kelly Bowers, a former Daily Bruin columnist, believe that the current Senate rule promotes a greater system of checks and balances in the government.
“I think it’s legitimate in that you should draw the line somewhere,” she said. “We are a country that was built on escaping the tyranny of the majority and this is an extra rule that the U.S. has to protect the minority.”
According to the United States Senate Web site, filibustering became popular in the 1850s and has been used frequently since then.
Perhaps the most prominent use of the filibuster concerned the debate over the Civil Rights Act of 1957, in which South Carolina Senator Strom Thurmond filibustered for 24 hours and 18 minutes against the legislation.
According to Bruin Democrats President Carrie McFadden, the filibustering process has become less reputable in recent years. Unlike the days of Thurmond, senators no longer have to be present on the senate floor for active debate, based on Senate Rule 22.
According to the senate rule, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has the power to force those opposed to the health care bill to actively debate on the senate floor. He has made no motion to use that power thus far.
“You can (filibuster) from the comfort of your own home now,” said McFadden, a fourth-year political science student. “It’s something that impedes the democratic process.”
Dukakis, who said he believes the Senate should vote to change the 60 person supermajority rule, called the current state of filibustering “a recipe for paralysis.”
Despite the procedural setback, McFadden said she thinks President Barack Obama should not back down from his efforts to pass the current health care bill.
“He still has so much potential, barely a year into his term,” she said. “I think he has the ability to overcome the obstacles he has on the right.”
Last week, Obama attended a House Republican retreat in Baltimore to answer questions and garner Republican support. In his speech, he said his administration’s current health care package includes ideas from many Republicans, including Senators Mike Enzi and Olympia Snowe.
“Bipartisanship ““ not for its own sake but to solve problems ““ that’s what our constituents, the American people, need from us right now,” he said at the retreat.
On Sunday, Obama said that he will hold a bipartisan summit at the White House on Feb. 25 to discuss health care. The event will be broadcast on television for public viewing.