Good day all. Since the foundation of this country, one of the rules of the United States Senate was the use of the Filibuster to slow down or stop bills from progressing. Originally, the filibuster meant that a senator would stand on the floor of the senate and talk nonstop, not allowing any other business to occur.
Eventually, the Cloture Rule was passed that provided a way for the majority to shut down a filibuster. Over the years, the terms of a filibuster were changed and we are now at the point where simply the threat of a filibuster will kill a bill. This is called a “Zombie Filibuster.” According to Grokopedia:
The traditional filibuster requires senators to remain physically present on the Senate floor and speak continuously to delay proceedings, often for hours or days until exhaustion or concession ends the effort. By contrast, the zombie filibuster relies on the mere threat of obstruction, dispensing with prolonged speech or sustained effort yet still demanding a supermajority cloture vote to advance legislation.
This change arose from amendments to Senate Rule XXII, especially the 1975 adjustment lowering the cloture threshold from two-thirds of those present to three-fifths of the total Senate. Though both require a 60-vote supermajority to invoke cloture and end debate, the zombie form greatly reduces the personal and procedural costs of obstruction.
That is the theory. The reality is that nothing gets done in the Senate. The issue is, primarily, the Democrats and their hatred of President Trump, the idea of Making America Great Again, (MAGA), and basically anything that the majority of Americans want that the Democrat Party elites don’t, such as removing all the Illegal Aliens, or passage of the SAVE act.
This has led a few members of the Senate to demand the end of the filibuster entirely. The problem with this idea, as much as it would seem to be a good one, is that if and when the Democrats regain control of the government, and they will at some point, they will use their majority to basically tear up the Constitution of the United States and impose a dictatorship. You would see the end of the 2nd Amendment, severe curtailing of the 1st Amendment, and in general the virtual abolition of the Bill of Rights.
Instead of ending the filibuster outright, another plan has been raised. It would end the so called Zombie Filibuster and force senators to actually stand in the Senate and keep talking. One person pushing this is Senator Mike Lee, (R-UT) He is trying to push the SAVE Act through the Senate, however the Democrat Party is utterly opposed to it. They have announced they will filibuster the bill. Now Senator Lee is pushing to have the rules changed. Here are the details from Newsmax:
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, is intensifying pressure on Senate colleagues to advance the SAVE America Act, a Republican-backed election integrity bill that would mandate proof of citizenship to register and a photo ID to vote in federal elections.
The SAVE ACT is actually very popular with a very large majority of the voters in the United States. It’s supported by most of the Republicans, a large majority of Democrats, (Well over 50%), and a large majority of Independents. The problem is that the Democrat Party doesn’t care what the voters want.
The bill passed the House on a party-line vote and faces a difficult path in the Senate, where Democrats can block it under existing filibuster rules requiring 60 votes to end debate.
“The longer we wait, the harder it’ll get to pass the SAVE America Act,” Lee wrote Sunday night on X. “Senate Republicans should rip off the Zombie Filibuster next week.”
That is the intent of the Democrat Party. They want this bill dead and buried. The know that if it passes and becomes law, their ability to rig elections with fraudulent voters will become significantly more difficult.
In a series of posts on X, Lee urged GOP senators to revive the talking filibuster — a traditional form of extended debate — to bring the measure to a vote without abolishing the 60-vote threshold.
“Enforce the Talking Filibuster,” Lee wrote Sunday on X. “Slay the Zombie.
“Baby steps to SAVE America … becoming giant leaps.”
Under current Senate rules, most legislation cannot be voted on unless debate is closed, a process known as invoking cloture — which typically requires 60 votes out of 100. If cloture fails, opponents can indefinitely delay a bill’s progression. The talking filibuster is a historical version of the filibuster in which senators must physically hold the floor and speak continuously to maintain an objection to a bill.
And as I mentioned earlier, this was how it used to be done. There was even a movie made back in the 1930’s starring Jimmy Stewart where the talking filibuster was used. The movie, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is a classic and it demonstrates how the filibuster used to be done. Now, thanks to procedural changes, all one party has to say is that they oppose the bill and will filibuster it even though the never actually planned to do so.
Lee and fellow conservatives argue the modern filibuster functions as what he calls a “zombie filibuster” — a procedural tool that lets senators block legislation without actively debating it on the floor, effectively giving a minority of 41 senators veto power over most major bills.
Reviving the talking filibuster would force opponents to actively obstruct if they want to delay a bill, potentially wearing down resistance and allowing a vote with a simple majority once debate concludes, Lee argued this weekend.
I suspect that most people weren’t aware of the so called “Zombie filibuster.” Of course, I suspect that far to many people don’t even know what the filibuster is. (Blame that on public schools, the professional educators and the teachers unions)
By calling for enforcement of older Senate debate rules — requiring active participation to sustain an objection — Lee says Republicans could effectively “slay the zombie” and bring the SAVE America Act to a floor vote without scrapping the filibuster entirely.
Scrapping the Filibuster Rule has been called for by people for decades. I’ve seen members of the House of Representatives calling for its end. Usually it’s when the Democrats are in control and the Republicans are using it to block some of their worst ideas. The problem lies with the Jurassic Pols on both sides of the aisle, but especially on the Republican side.
Despite Lee’s push, Senate procedural reforms remain uncertain. Some Republicans, including Sen. Susan Collins, support the SAVE America Act but oppose changes to filibuster rules, highlighting the challenge ahead for Lee’s strategy.
Collins, Murkowsky and McConnell are three of the worst RINO’s in the Senate. They are also, collectively, almost as old as the Constitution of the United States. One of the major problems with the Senate is that it’s basically a giant geriatric ward. If the talking filibuster were to be revived, there aren’t that many members who could actually stand on the floor of the senate and talk for hours, or even days. (The last one to do this was Senator Cory “Farticus” Booker. He lasted 25 hours)
Personally, I think that someone needs to lay into John Thune and tell him that America wants the SAVE ACT passed and that if it means changing the rules of the Senate and going back to the Talking Filibuster, then he needs to pull his thumb out and make the rule change. It will be useful to see which Republicans are opposed to it and for what reason.
Thatisall
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