The Washington Gridlock Posted on 10/27/2018 at 15:44:49 by Bill Crawford, (14)
When listening to the news last evening, I was reminded of something that I had almost forgotten about---the filibuster rule in the Senate.
When Vice President Pence was asked why the Republicans couldn't move forward with their program, when they controlled the House, the Senate and the Presidency, he brought up the 60 man rule in the Senate.
There has been so much talk recently about the two-vote Republican majority in the Senate and the potential need for the Vice President to break ties, that I had forgotten that this was only the case when voting for the approval of presidential appointees. For the passage of all legislation, except for the budget, sixty votes are required.
In the case of a minority President, even more votes are required to override a Presidential veto--sixty six.
Although the Senate voted to change the sixty vote rule when voting on presidential appointees, they failed to do so in the case of passing legislation.
I guess they thought that such a move could come back to bite them.
All of the above makes the upcoming Senate election particularly important for the Republicans.
Although the pollsters indicate that the Republicans will likely pick up four or five Senate seats, I don't think anyone expects them to reach the sixty vote majority.
