Filibusters and Our Founders

Charlotte Davis / January 12, 2010

Yesterday Thomas Geoghegan argued in The New York Times that the Senate filibuster is “at worst, unconstitutional and, at best, at odds with the founders’ intent.” However, the most rudimentary reading of the Constitution suggests that the Founders wanted the passage of legislation to be exceedingly difficult in order to prevent a slim majority from ruling the country with impunity.

If the Founders were so against supermajorities (as the author suggests), then why is a “two thirds” vote in Congress required no less than 5 times in Article I of the Constitution (including the override of a veto)? In fact, every specification in the Constitution that deals with real action like impeachment, determining House and Senate rules, or overriding a veto requires a supermajority. Only merely conducting business requires a simple majority. The Founders wanted and required a supermajority on matters of import to restrain the federal government from usurping the freedom and liberty of the United States and its citizens.

Geoghegan further naively claims that the 60 vote cloture requirement undercuts the Vice President’s ability to be a tie-breaker. Yet, according to the Senate’s own out-of-date webpage on the subject (it still lists Cheney as Vice President), since 1789, the Vice President has cast 242 deciding votes—a significant number considering the rarity of the situation. (more…)