Filibuster: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

John Oliver’s Argument Against the Filibuster

John Oliver argues that the Senate filibuster has become a major obstacle to passing legislation and should be abolished.

How the Filibuster Works

The filibuster is a tactic for blocking a measure from reaching a vote. In its current form, legislation can be blocked if its supporters cannot secure 60 votes, even though a simple majority is 51. Senators generally do not have to speak for hours; signaling an intent to filibuster can be enough.

Arguments Against the Filibuster

Oliver challenges several defenses of the practice:

• It is not required by the Constitution. The 60-vote threshold was not part of the founders’ original design. The filibuster emerged later, apparently by accident.
• It has not consistently protected minority rights. Southern senators used it to obstruct civil-rights legislation. Senator Strom Thurmond, for example, delivered a record-breaking 24-hour speech against the Civil Rights Act of 1957.
• It often prevents action rather than encouraging debate and bipartisanship. Cloture votes, which measure filibuster use, increased from two during Eisenhower’s term to 506 during Barack Obama’s eight years in office.

Oliver cites a bipartisan gun-control bill, the Paycheck Fairness Act, and the public option for the Affordable Care Act as examples of legislation that failed to advance. He argues that, as a result, major issues are increasingly addressed through executive actions and court rulings instead of legislation.

Conclusion

Oliver acknowledges that abolishing the filibuster carries risks: whichever party holds power could pass measures the other opposes. Still, he argues that the risk is worth taking because the Senate is meant to address the country’s problems, and the filibuster makes that increasingly difficult. He ends by parodying a filibuster to emphasize his case.

Presenter: John Oliver