Response to a previous letter

EDITOR: In her letter of March 25, Ms. Gair appeals to senators to eliminate the filibuster accusing Republicans of changing the rules to increase their power. A brief filibuster cloture history is appropriate.

In March 1917, the U.S. Senate of the 65th Congress with 54 Democrats, 42 Republicans (only 96 senators at the time) passed a Cloture Rule (Rule 22) to end filibusters with a two-thirds vote of the Senate. Cloture was used very sparingly.

In 1964, 18 Southern senators (17 Democrats, 1 Republican) conducted a 57-day filibuster against the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It finally passed the Senate, 73 (46D, 27R) to 27 (21D, 6R) with 82 percent of Republicans but only 69 percent of Democrats supporting the bill.

In 1975, 61 Democrat Senators reduced the cloture vote requirements from 67 to 60 votes.

In 2013 Sen. Harry Reid (DNV) with a never-used parliamentary procedure, the “nuclear” option, lowered the cloture vote to a simple majority to limit Republicans from filibustering Presidential appointees and federal judges. He was warned that doing so could have unintended consequences. Sure enough, Republicans used the nuclear option to approve three Supreme Court Justices in 2017-2020.

In 2020 Democrats filibustered the police reform “Justice Act” authored by black Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) that has even some Democrat senators questioning whether that filibuster was racist.

Republicans changing the rules to increase power?

Filibusters have been used by both parties to protect the minority from the excesses of the majority. The Cloture Rule protects democracy.

— Stan Anderson, Fort Bragg