Politics | Politics

The Senate Filibuster, Explained

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court nomination of Judge Neil M. Gorsuch is now going to the Senate floor. The Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer of New York, has pledged to lead Democrats in a filibuster of the nomination.

The idea that a 60 vote majority is necessary for cloture is not an ancient, embedded, original feature of the Senate, and neither are Judiciary hearings. I support the idea of a filibuster, but originally, cloture did not exist and endless filibusters won't work in 2017.