The Filibuster and the Nuclear Option

Filibusters were particularly useful to Southern senators who sought to block civil rights legislation, including anti-lynching legislation, until cloture was invoked after a 60 day filibuster against the Civil Right Act of 1964. In 1975, the Senate reduced the number of votes required for cloture from two-thirds to three-fifths, or 60 of the current one hundred senators.Senate rulesThe action in 2017 has moved to the  Nuclear Option as tool of choice for reactionary lawmakerss.The nuclear or constitutional option is a  that allows the Senate to override a rule or precedent by a simple majority of 51 votes, instead of by a supermajority of 60 votes.Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who says that once Democrats filibuster Judge Neil Gorsuch, the GOP’s unilateral response to confirm him on a simple majority vote will take senators “back to what was the tradition in the Senate” for confirming Supreme Court justices. WP