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A filibuster is a tactic used in the United States Senate to delay or block a vote on a measure by preventing debate on it from ending. [1]: 2 The Senate's rules place few restrictions on debate; in general, if no other senator is speaking, a senator who seeks recognition is entitled to speak for as long as they wish.
When things actually happen on Capitol Hill, it’s frequently because senators find ways around the filibuster, the custom whereby a supermajority of 60 votes is required to pass legislation.
With Democrats now holding the Senate majority, talk of eliminating the filibuster has ramped up. "A filibuster is really extended debate, extended amending activity, whatever it takes to block ...
US Senator Chris Murphy engaging in a filibuster. Under current Senate rules, any modification or limitation of the filibuster would be a rule change that itself could be filibustered, with two-thirds of those senators present and voting (as opposed to the normal three-fifths of those sworn) needing to vote to break the filibuster. [56]
The U.S. Senate's "filibuster" rule requires 60 votes in the 100-seat chamber to advance most legislation. Republicans will start next year with a 53-47 Senate majority, which would require seven ...
Senate Democrats used the filibuster to prevent the confirmation of ten conservative court candidates nominated by Republican President George W. Bush. [1]As a result of these ten filibusters, Senate Republican leaders began to threaten to change the existing Senate rules by using the "nuclear option" (sometimes referred to as the "constitutional option").
The filibuster—an extended speech designed to stall legislation—began at 8:54 p.m. [a] and lasted until 9:12 p.m. the following day, a duration of 24 hours and 18 minutes. This made the filibuster the longest single-person filibuster in United States Senate history, a record that still stands as of 2025.
Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina famously staged one for 24 hours and 18 minutes — still the record — against civil rights legislation in 1957.