“Filibusterism”, the parliamentary tradition that Biden wants to break

The president of U.S, Joe Biden, Tuesday called on the US Senate to break with a firmly anchored parliamentary tradition, called “filibusterism”, to forcefully pass its great electoral reform that seeks to protect minority access to the vote.

What is ‘filibusterism’?

For a long time, the US Senate did not limit the length of debate on bills. This possibility of obstruction allowed parliamentarians to prevent a text from being put to a vote. There was talk then of “filibusterismo”, a word derived from the French “filibustier”, since they “pirated” the closing of the debate.

Since 1917, senators can decide to stop the debate if they can gather enough voices. Today, 60 senators out of 100 are needed for a bill to be voted on.

In a Congress where Democrats and Republicans each have 50 seats, this supermajority is nearly unattainable on sensitive issues, blocking most of Biden’s proposed initiatives.

The rule does not apply to budget laws.

What alternatives are there?

Rather than completely abandon the “filibuster” rule, Democrats consider a “nuclear option” that would allow senators to exceptionally vote on the vast electoral reform with a simple majority.

This option has been so called because it brutally breaks with tradition, planning the risk of an escalation with the next change of majority.

But to activate the “nuclear option,” Democrats need the backing of their entire field. And several Democratic senators, including West Virginia Rep. Joe Manchin, have been skeptical.

The republican opposition rises against any reform to the “filibusterismo”, assuring that it would “break the Senate” and give the Democrats an excessive power.

However, Republicans used the famous option in 2017 to lower the number of votes needed to nominate Supreme Court justices, who are for life, to 51, drawing the ire of Democrats.