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Senate Rules Committee Holds Series of Hearings on the Filibuster

Dec 09 2010

The Rules Committee held a series of hearings in 2010 to examine the history and use of the filibuster in the U.S. Senate.

The first in the series was held on Thursday, April 22, 2010. This hearing, “Examining the Filibuster: History of the Filibuster 1789-2008,” discussed the evolution of the filibuster, the tradition of unlimited debate in the Senate, and efforts to curtail it from the earliest days of the Senate through 2008. Witnesses at the first hearing were Dr. Sarah A. Binder, a Political Science Professor at George Washington University and a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution; Dr. Gregory J. Wawro, an Associate Professor at Columbia University in New York; former Senate Parliamentarian Dr. Robert Dove; and Dr. Stanley I. Bach, a retired Senior Specialist in the Legislative Process at the Congressional Research Service.

On Wednesday, May 19, 2010, the second hearing in the series, “Examining the Filibuster: The Filibuster Today and Its Consequences,” was held. Former Vice President and Senator Walter Mondale was featured as the first witness. Former Republican Senator and Republican Whip Don Nickles was the second witness.  The final panel included Dr. Norman J. Ornstein, a Resident Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, and Dr. Steven G. Smith, the director of the Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government, and Public Policy and Professor of Social Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis.

The third hearing in the series, “Examining the Filibuster: Silent Filibusters, Holds and the Senate Confirmation Process,” was held on June 23rd, 2010. The first panel included Senator Ron Wyden from Oregon, Senator Chuck Grassley from Iowa, and Senator Claire McCaskill from Missouri to discuss a variety of bipartisan proposals that would eliminate the secret hold in the Senate. The second panel was made up of experts G. Calvin Mackenzie, the Goldfarb Family Distinguished Professor of Government at Colby College; W. Lee Rawls, faculty member at the National War College and an Adjunct Professor at the College of William and Mary; and Thomas E. Mann, a Senior Fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution.

On July 28, 2010, the fourth hearing in the series, “Examining the Filibuster: Legislative Proposals to Change Senate Procedures,” took place. This hearing featured Senator Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey and Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado, who discussed resolutions they had introduced that would reform the filibuster. The final panel included Gregory Koger, an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Miami; Barbara Sinclair, the Marvin Hoffenberg Professor of American Politics Emerita at the University of California, Los Angeles; and Elizabeth Rybicki, an Analyst on the Congress and Legislative Process with the Congressional Research Service.

A legislative hearing to consider two additional bills was held on September 22, 2010. Titled “Examining the Filibuster: Legislative Proposals to Change Senate Procedures,” it featured Senator Tom Harkin from Iowa and Senator Tom Udall from New Mexico, who discussed their legislative proposals. The second panel featured Mimi Murray Digby Marziani, a Counsel and Katz Fellow in the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law; Robert Dove, Parliamentarian Emeritus of the U.S. Senate; and Steven S. Smith, a Professor of Political Science and the Director of the Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government, and Public Policy at Washington University, St. Louis. 

The final hearing in the series, “Examining the Filibuster: Ideas to Reduce Delay and Encourage Debate in the Senate” was held on September 29, 2010. Senator Judd Gregg of New Hampshire was the first witness. The second panel included Marty Paone, the Executive Vice President of the Prime Policy Group and former Secretary to Majority Leaders Robert C. Byrd, George Mitchell, Tom Daschle, and Harry Reid; and Norman Ornstein, a Resident Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research.