What is a filibuster? Here's everything you need to know.
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Changes to the filibuster process could change the country's legislation forever.
The political term - used as a tactic to stall or advance important legislation - has been discussed lately among Democrats to make changes to the process in the past for voting rights. However, following the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v Wade, President Joe Biden said Thursday in Madrid that he would support changing rules to the filibuster to codify the right to abortion and the right to human privacy into law.
But for many people not into the nooks and crannies of politics, it can seem to sound like an obscure tongue twister we remembered in school books.
Here's a brief breakdown of what a procedure is:
What is a filibuster?
According to a previous post for USA Today, a filibuster is a practice whereby any lawmaker can stall action by extending debate or using other tactics. The strategy was been around for a while, being used back in 60 B.C., Cato the Younger effectively filibustered the Roman Senate.
The term wasn't necessarily created at that time, though.
The word "filibuster" has its origins in piracy. Dutch, French, and Spanish all share words referring to "vribuyter," "flibutier" and "filibustero," or pirates who would plunder ships and colonies. The word was eventually imported into English as "flee-booter," meaning a pirate who steals loot or "booty, according to the post.
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How old is the Filibuster in US politics?
Originally an obscure political gesture accidentally created in 1806, the filibuster began to be used more in the 19th-century American legislation to stall debate for laws related to key issues like the abolition of slavery. In 1917, the Senate enacted the cloture rule, which allows 2/3 of the Senate to end a debate on a specific topic.
It was used infrequently or overruled in most cases, the procedure's been used frequently in recent times to advance or stall key laws related to civil rights in the modern era of politics. While Democrats used the strategy to prevent hiring judicial nominees deemed too radical during the Bush administration. More recently, Republicans overruled the Democrats' filibuster in 2017 to clear the way for Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch.
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How does it affect the overturning Roe v Wade?
Since a previous bill created to enshrine Roe v Wade failed to be passed by a 49-51 last May, Senate votes to overturn the Supreme Court decision may be slim to none. However, changing the filibuster could allow senators to write the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that established a constitutional right to abortion into law with a simple majority.
For now, Biden will have more announcements on how the administration plans to protect abortion rights after he meets Friday with governors from states that move to protect them following the Supreme Court's ruling.
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: What is a filibuster? Changes to procedure could change US legislation
