What is a filibuster?
A filibuster delays or blocks a Senate vote by extending debate. It can keep a proposal from reaching a vote even when a majority supports it.
The Senate’s filibuster and cloture guide at senate.gov is the source of record. Here is how the procedure affects the votes you follow.
What is cloture, and why 60 votes?
Cloture is the Senate procedure that limits debate and moves a question toward a vote. For most legislation, it requires three-fifths of senators duly chosen and sworn. That means 60 votes when all 100 Senate seats are filled, not three-fifths of whoever votes. Vacancies can change the threshold. Absences do not lower it.
Cloture does not pass the bill or always end debate immediately. Senators can still debate under a time limit before they vote on the question. Final passage of an ordinary bill generally requires a simple majority of senators voting, with a quorum present.
For example, with 100 senators sworn in, a 59–41 cloture vote fails. A 60–40 cloture vote succeeds, but the Senate still must decide the underlying question. Read the Congressional Research Service guide to cloture for the detailed rules.
Which questions can a filibuster block?
A filibuster can delay or block votes on bills, resolutions, amendments, and other debatable questions. That includes many motions to proceed, which ask the Senate to take up a measure. Senators may therefore need to overcome a filibuster before they even debate the bill itself.
A senator does not have to give an all-night speech. The threat of extended debate can stall a measure if supporters lack the votes for cloture. The Senate’s filibuster history explains how the practice evolved.
Does every Senate vote need 60 votes?
No. Current Senate precedents allow a simple majority to end debate on presidential nominations, including Supreme Court nominees. The 60-vote legislative threshold does not apply to those nominations.
Budget reconciliation bills follow special rules that limit debate, so they cannot face an unlimited-debate filibuster. Reconciliation covers certain spending, revenue, and debt-limit changes, not any policy Congress wants to pass. The Congressional Research Service guide to reconciliation explains those limits.
Other special procedures also limit debate. Cloture on a measure to amend Senate rules instead requires two-thirds of senators present and voting under Rule XXII.
Does the House have a filibuster?
The House has no filibuster. House rules limit debate, so members cannot use the Senate’s unlimited-debate tactic to block a vote. A bill can pass the House and still stall in the Senate. The bill-to-law guide explains why both chambers must agree on the same text.
See how your senators vote
A cloture vote asks whether to limit debate, not whether to pass a bill. Check the question on each roll-call record before you draw a conclusion. The representative vote guide shows where to find official records. A filibuster that prevents a vote leaves no final-passage roll call to report.