Understanding the Filibuster

The National Constitution Center has a great new We the People podcast on the filibuster. The discussion between Josh Chafetz and Jay Cost sheds an incredible amount of light on the history of the filibuster—including that something like it was first used in the House, not the Senate. It’s also just a fascinating discussion of the development of the filibuster, how it fits within American institutions more broadly, and how it functions today. While Chafetz and Cost disagree about the filibuster in today’s politics, they both agree with Jeff Tulis that the “talking filibuster” is much better than the current filibuster, which essentially amounts to a minority veto that can be used without any political cost.  Every member of the Senate should listen in.   

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