Filibusters II

 

Everybody’s Talkin' 

Everybody's talking at me.
I don't hear a word they're saying,
Only the echoes of my mind.

Can the filibuster be preserved without it just being talking at me?

If the infrastructure bill had been defeated by a filibuster, given the support for infrastructure improvements, it would have probably doomed the filibuster.  Thus if the infrastructure bill passes, one of the consequences is that the filibuster may also be retained.  The filibuster was originally intended as a process to preserve debate.  A super majority of US Senators ( which is currently 60 Senators) is needed to end debate and bring a bill to the floor for a vote.  Before the 1970s, Senate rules required talking filibusters, e.g. debate could continue but that debate had to be active.  This led to the talking filibusters made famous in the movie Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, but filibusters have also been used by Southern Senators to stop civil rights legislation.  That led to “debate” being reading from the phone book or reading recipes that had nothing to contribute to the bill being offered, but merely delayed  ending debate and bringing a bill to a vote.  As the self-styled World’s Greatest Deliberative Body, the Senate was justifiably embarrassed by such behavior, feared for its members health, ended the taking filibuster and instituted today's version of the filibuster.

A vote to end debate, to bring a bill to the floor, is currently a public vote.  Thus it is also publicly known whether you voted with, or against, your party.  If your party choses to retaliate, then it is probable that some votes to continue debate are made only out of fear of retaliation. Thus a multiplayer game of 100 Senators devolves into a two-player game of Democrats versus Republicans

Fear of reprisal because of a vote is why general elections are by secret ballot.   If secret ballots were required to end debate and advance a bill, it could preserve the filibuster, but make the filibuster follow its original intent, to preserve debate and let the minority be heard, without letting that minority block any action that does not also have 60 senate votes. Then talking serves a purpose and is not just talking at me.