Historical Night in the Senate

11 Comments

1. 

   froggywomp on July 17, 2007 at 2:22 pm

   Under the rules, a senator may not sit down and may not take any breaks. If he or she is exhausted, there must be another senator ready to take his or her place and there must be a quorum present between speakers.

   What are the consequences of a violation of these rules, i.e. if there is not a senator to take over speaking?  Would Reid be able to force a final vote (requiring a simple majority) on the amendment in question?  

   What if there is not a quorum?  It seems like this would merely terminate the session, but would it mean a vote could be forced?

   • 

     BooMan on July 17, 2007 at 2:37 pm

     Link:

     A Senator who has the floor for purposes of debate must remain standing and must speak more or less continuously.
     5
     Complying with these requirements obviously becomes more of a strain as time passes. However, Senators must be careful when they try to give some relief to their colleagues who are speaking.
     Senate precedents prohibit Senators from yielding the floor to each other. To gain the floor, a Senator must seek recognition from the presiding officer. Thus, if a Senator simply yields to a colleague, he or she has yielded (relinquished) the floor, however inadvertently. This is another one of those Senate procedures that often is
     not observed during the normal conduct of business on the floor. But during filibusters, Senators are much more likely to insist on it being observed.
     A Senator may yield to a colleague without losing the floor only if the Senator yields for a question.
     6
     With this in mind, a colleague of a filibustering Senator may give that Senator some relief by asking him or her to yield for a question. The
     Senator who retains control of the floor must remain standing while the question is
     being asked. The peculiar advantage of this tactic is that it sometimes takes Senators quite some time to ask their question, and the presiding officer is reluctant to force them to state their question before they are ready to do so. In this way, participating Senators can extend the debate through an exchange of what sometimes are long
     questions followed by short answers, rather than by relying exclusively on a series of long, uninterrupted speeches.

     Quorums and Quorum Calls

     There are ways other than debate by which Senators can delay and sometimes even prevent the Senate from voting on a question that it is considering. For example, each amendment that is offered on the Senate floor must be read in full before debate on it can begin, although the Senate usually agrees by unanimous consent to waive the reading. In addition, quorum calls can be demanded not for the
     purpose of confirmingor securing the presence of a quorum, but in order to consume time.

     A Senator who has been recognized can “suggest the absence of a quorum,” asking in effect whether the Senate is complying with the constitutional requirement that a quorum–a majority of all Senators–be present for the Senate to conduct
     business. The presiding officer normally does not have the authority to count to determine whether a quorum actually is present (which is rarely the case), and so directs the clerk to call the roll.
     Senators usually use quorum calls to suspend the Senate’s floor proceedings temporarily, perhaps to discuss a procedural or policyproblem or to await the arrival of a certain Senator. In those cases, the clerk calls the roll very slowly and, before
     the call of the roll is completed, the Senate agrees by unanimous consent to call off the quorum call (to “dispense with further proceedings under the quorum call”).

     Because the absence of a quorum has not actually been demonstrated, the Senate can resume its business. Such quorum calls can be time-consuming and so can serve the interests of filibustering Senators.

     During a filibuster, however, the clerk may be directed to call the roll more rapidly, as if a roll call vote were in progress. Doing so reduces the time that the quorum call consumes, but it also creates the real possibility that the quorum call may demonstrate that a quorum in fact is not present. In that case, the Senate has only two
     options: to adjourn, or to take steps necessary to secure the presence of enough absent Senators to create a quorum. Typically, the majority leader or the majority floor manager opts for the latter course, and makes a motion that the sergeant at arms secure the attendance of absent Senators, and then asks for a roll call vote on that motion.

     Senators who did not respond to the quorum call are likely to come to the floor for the roll call vote on this motion. Almost always, therefore, the vote establishes that a quorum is present, so the Senate can resume its business without the sergeant at arms actually having to execute the Senate’s directive.

     This process also can be time-consuming because of the time required to conduct the roll call vote just discussed. Nonetheless, the proponents of the bill (or other matter) being filibustered may prefer that the roll be called quickly because it
     requires unanimous consent to call off a routine quorum call, in which the clerk calls
     the roll very slowly, before it is completed. A filibustering Senator has only to suggest the absence of a quorum and then object to calling off the quorum call in order to provoke a motion to secure the attendance of absentees and (with the support of at least 10 other Senators) a roll call vote on that motion. If this motion is likely
     to be necessary, one way or the other, it is usually in the interests of the bill’s proponents to have the motion made (and agreed to) as soon as possible.

     When Senators suggest the absence of a quorum, however, they lose the floor. Also, “[i]t is not in order for a Senator to demand a quorum call if no business has intervened since the last call; business must intervene before a second quorum call or between calls if the question is raised or a point of order made.”

     These restrictions limit the extent to which quorum calls may be used as means of conducting
     filibusters.

   • 

     BooMan on July 17, 2007 at 2:42 pm

     there’s also more at that link, for example, the two-speech rule which forbids a Senator from speaking twice on the same issue on the same legislative day.  A legislative day goes on and on until the Senate is actually adjourned.  Reid can recess the Senate instead.  Eventually, all the Republicans will have spoken and debate will have to end.  

     • 

       froggywomp on July 17, 2007 at 6:50 pm

       It sounds like they can offer a trivial amendment and then speak twice about that, though, and lather-rinse-repeat as necessary…  

2. 

   dada on July 17, 2007 at 2:29 pm

   ahhhh….the tantalizing aroma of fresh pc…fun for the whole family

   
   clik to enlarge

   it’s about time harry called their bluff….now, what’re the odds the msm’s going to spin this negatively for the rats?

   we shall see

   btw: always preferred watching grass grow…smells better

   lTMF’sA

   

3. 

   Chief on July 17, 2007 at 2:50 pm

   If the MSM and major networks had one iota of civic responsibility, the ‘debate’ in the Senate would be carried all afternoon and during prime time if necessary..

4. 

   meagert on July 17, 2007 at 2:53 pm

   Watching CSPAN2 right now, there is already some pretty heated debate on the floor. Senators are pushing each others buttons. Levin called for a vote at 6pm, but it was objected to by McCain. Come 3-4am, they’ll be ready for fisticuffs…….
    I just hope none of the Dems become flustered and say something stupid. I expect it from the Repubs, but this will be case of who flinches first.

5. 

   Man Eegee on July 17, 2007 at 3:06 pm

   I hope there are lots and lots of fireworks.  I’m sick of the comity shtick.  

   Most of these fools are so insulated from the consequences of their actions that they need firecrackers lit up their collective asses to understand the devastation they are causing by hitching onto the War Wagon.

6. 

   merciless on July 17, 2007 at 4:05 pm

   Is anybody else thinking of The West Wing?  An episode was devoted to a single senator’s filibuster (The Stackhouse Filibuster, season one I think) and all the main rules were outlined during the show.

   Good times.  I hope lots of videotaping will be going on…

7. 

   Kahli on July 17, 2007 at 4:12 pm

   I started trying to imagine what kind of jammies each Senator would wear to a sleep-over, but I grossed myself out so I had to stop.

   • 

     Man Eegee on July 17, 2007 at 7:07 pm

     now where’s that bottle of brain bleach i bought for comments such as this?  i seem to have misplaced it…

     😉