Vote on the Filibuster

In the new session's first vote of consequence, the U.S. Senate cast party lines to the wind: a whopping bipartisan majority defeated, 70 to 21, a bipartisan minority's attempt to do away with filibusters.

The minority was trying to improve the prospects for' a civil-rights bill, hitherto blocked by the filibustering of Southern Democrats. The Senate has carried on as a continuing body each session (which has only one-third new members), starting with rules of procedure adopted in the past. This year the minority proposed to break with the precedent; by treating the session as a new body, new rules would have to be drafted. Thereby the minority hoped to rewrite Rule 22, which keeps debate unlimited unless 64 members ask for cloture (i.e., a time limit on debate).

Ohio's Robert Taft conceded that Rule 22 might be too stringent, but he opposed changing it in a way that imperiled the constitutional structure of the Senate. Taft promised to support some other plan to curb filibusters. The majority against adopting new rules was made up of 41 Republicans and 29 Democrats; the minority was made up of five Republicans, 15 Democrats and one independent.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.