Filibuster

In the closing session of the 111th Congress, 53 senators agreed to allow a floor vote on letting the Bush-era tax cuts for the rich lapse. The DREAM Act, which would have put illegal immigrants who were brought to the United States as children and are now attending college or serving in the military on a path to citizenship, received even more enthusiastic support ? a vote of 55 to 41. But even though the House had passed both bills, neither became law because of a Senate procedural rule that thwarts the intentions of the Founding Fathers: requiring a supermajority to end a filibuster.

Republican Sen. Rand Paul is holding up the Senate floor this week with a filibuster calling for an end to U.S. financial support to Egypt. The Kentucky senator is protesting the Egyptian government's treatment of Americans working at non-governmental organizations, some of whom have been blocked from leaving the country and are now being forced to stand trial on charges stemming from their work, as our Los Angeles Times colleagues have reported...

It's been a maddening year for California liberals. In the 2008 election, Barack Obama carried the state by a stunning 24 points. He took office with a distinctly progressive agenda and with heavy Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress. A moment of liberal breakthrough -- another 1935 or 1965 -- seemed at hand. And then . . . nothing happened. The problem wasn't the House. The House delivered: It passed healthcare reform with a "public option"; it passed financial reform legislation; it passed cap-and-trade legislation that would slow global warming.

Republicans blocked a vote on President Obama's pick for a seat on the crucial federal appeals court in Washington on Tuesday, dealing the White House a setback as it continues to struggle to fill judicial vacancies across the nation. The GOP filibustered the nomination of Caitlin Halligan, a New York lawyer who Democrats contended was a moderate nominee who had won praise from some conservatives. But Republicans said they were concerned about Halligan's record on gun rights and terrorism detainee issues.

Republicans were unable to mount a filibuster Wednesday against one of President Obama’s judicial nominees despite an unprecedented objection from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce against a plaintiffs lawyer the GOP said was unfit to serve on the bench. No district court nominee that has been approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee has been denied nomination on a procedural vote in recent memory, senators from both parties said. “The targeting of district court nominees is unprecedented,” said Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY)

The Senate stands on the edge of what could be the biggest fight over an Obama administration judicial nominee yet, larger than either of the conflicts over Supreme Court picks Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has scheduled a vote for Thursday on the motion to cut off debate over the nomination of Goodwin Liu to the U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco. The motion requires 60 votes to pass—and its failure to do so would be, in effect, a filibuster.

A Democratic-led drive to limit the power of the filibuster to stall legislation faded Thursday in favor of more modest reforms, showing that not even an era of unprecedented political obstruction could convince senators to change the way they do business. The Senate beat back legislation championed by junior Democrats who have grown frustrated with the ability of a single senator to block legislation unless a supermajority of 60 can be mustered, a tactic the Republican minority has used to great success.

The Senate filibuster has emerged as the bane of President Obama's legislative agenda, igniting anger among liberals over a tactic that is now hogtying Congress even on noncontroversial bills. The threat of filibusters has become so common that congressional leaders take it for granted that any bill of consequence will not pass the 100-member Senate with a simple majority of 51. Instead, 60 votes -- the number needed to cut off the interminable speeches of a filibuster -- has become the minimum required.

A pair of key Senate Republicans urged President Obama on Sunday to pick someone from the judicial mainstream to succeed retiring Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, and downplayed -- but did not rule out -- a filibuster to block a nominee they opposed. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee, said a filibuster would be in the offing only if Obama picked "a nominee that evidences a philosophy of 'judges know best,' that they can amend the Constitution by saying it has evolved . . . then we're going to have a big fight about that because the American people don't want that."

Re "Nuclear-Free Zone," editorial dissent, May 22: Judy Dugan uses unusual logic to preserve the filibuster, but only for this administration. Putting off getting rid of the filibuster against judicial nominations, which you admit "has distorted the nomination process," makes as much sense as putting off any changes to Social Security for a future generation to "give voters a chance to absorb the change." Absorption won't occur with this electorate until the change takes place. Do you believe that things will only get better if we leave them alone for now?

Goodwin Liu, President Obama's polarizing choice for the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, has withdrawn from consideration after last week's filibuster of his nomination in the Senate. "With no possibility of an up-or-down vote on the horizon, my family and I have decided that it is time for us to regain the ability to make plans for the future," Liu wrote in a letter to Obama on Wednesday. Liu's withdrawal is a victory for Senate Republicans, who last week banded together to deny the UC Berkeley law professor a confirmation vote.

Goodwin Liu, President Obama's polarizing choice for the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, has withdrawn from consideration after last week's filibuster of his nomination on the floor of the Senate. "With no possibility of an up-or-down vote on the horizon, my family and I have decided that it is time for us to regain the ability to make plans for the future," Liu wrote in a letter to Obama on Wednesday. Liu's withdrawal is a victory for Senate Republicans, who last week banded together to deny the UC Berkeley law professor a confirmation vote.

Senate Republicans blocked a vote on the nomination of UC Berkeley law professor Goodwin Liu to the federal appeals court in San Francisco, making Liu the first judicial nominee named by President Obama to be successfully filibustered. The move appears to doom Liu's chances of becoming the first Asian American on the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which serves California, Hawaii, Washington and Oregon, all states with significant or growing Asian populations. Democrats failed to come close to the 60 votes needed to override the filibuster.

The Senate stands on the edge of what could be the biggest fight over an Obama administration judicial nominee yet, larger than either of the conflicts over Supreme Court picks Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has scheduled a vote for Thursday on the motion to cut off debate over the nomination of Goodwin Liu to the U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco. The motion requires 60 votes to pass—and its failure to do so would be, in effect, a filibuster.

Republicans were unable to mount a filibuster Wednesday against one of President Obama’s judicial nominees despite an unprecedented objection from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce against a plaintiffs lawyer the GOP said was unfit to serve on the bench. No district court nominee that has been approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee has been denied nomination on a procedural vote in recent memory, senators from both parties said. “The targeting of district court nominees is unprecedented,” said Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY)

A Democratic-led drive to limit the power of the filibuster to stall legislation faded Thursday in favor of more modest reforms, showing that not even an era of unprecedented political obstruction could convince senators to change the way they do business. The Senate beat back legislation championed by junior Democrats who have grown frustrated with the ability of a single senator to block legislation unless a supermajority of 60 can be mustered, a tactic the Republican minority has used to great success.

Goodwin Liu, President Obama's polarizing choice for the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, has withdrawn from consideration after last week's filibuster of his nomination on the floor of the Senate. "With no possibility of an up-or-down vote on the horizon, my family and I have decided that it is time for us to regain the ability to make plans for the future," Liu wrote in a letter to Obama on Wednesday. Liu's withdrawal is a victory for Senate Republicans, who last week banded together to deny the UC Berkeley law professor a confirmation vote.

Re "Republicans Reject Democrats' Offer to Settle Judicial Dispute," April 27: The demand of Republican leaders in the Senate that Democrats pledge not to filibuster judicial nominees, especially Supreme Court nominees, is unreasonable. If the filibuster and the resulting requirement for a supermajority of 60 are ever needed, they are for lifetime nominations because the decisions are irreversible, unlike decisions on policy or taxation, which can be reversed when the other party returns to power.

It is ironic that a major anti-secrecy reform was thwarted by a single senator's secret "hold" just before Congress adjourned in December. Perhaps some good will come of this double-edged attack on the public's right to know ? if it sparks reform. The Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act ? which would have offered expanded protection for federal employees against retaliation for reporting waste, fraud and abuse ? had passed unanimously, first in the Senate and then a week later, on Dec. 22, in the House.