Posted on 11/19/2014 3:14:13 AM PST by afraidfortherepublic
Would somebody please explain to me why all these "important" votes in the Senate now need 60 votes to pass? I know that it is some kind of "rule" that Harry Reid instituted, but when does it kick in, and what is the reasoning behind it?
Exactly what I was wondering on the drive home last night.
They are saying that it did not pass.
You always needed 60 votes to get cloture in the Senate.
Once the bill is on the floor a simple majority can pass it.
I googled it and more than one source indicates that the 60 votes were needed to veto-proof it.
“You always needed 60 votes to get cloture in the Senate.”
Nope used to be 67 votes. They changed it to 60 the year the Democrats got 61 Senators....sigh
It does still take 67 votes in the senate to override a veto.
Sorry, My post #8 was supposed to be to Gaffer.
No...I believe you still need a two thirds vote in BOTH the House and Senate to override a veto. That would be 67 votes in the Senate and 290 (I think) in the House.
That’s what I thought too, actually. I was mainly commenting on news sources out there and there are more than one saying veto-proofing. It seems the news media really isn’t doing its job in being concise about the mechanics of the vote.
I tend to think it was a cloture vote to keep it off the floor vote. IIRC the cloture vote rules were changed by Reid with respect to filibustering and the like, however.
The term is cloture. What it means is there are not enough votes to filibuster the bill. Looked at another way there is enough support for the bill in the senate to bring the bill to the floor for debate and vote. This is a senate rule intended to provide the minority a means to stop legislation they strongly disagree with from getting to the floor. It has nothing to do with veto override, though it could be considered an indication of voting strength.
Not really. Reid has held up popular bills that actually have more than 60 potential votes. He has done the exact opposite by nuking the filibuster for judges. Used to need 60 to advance a judgeship to a full vote, he made it 50.
First we need 60 functioning brains in the senate.
It takes 2/3 to override a veto. That’s 66. It takes 60 votes to stop a filibuster and proceed to a vote on the measure.
66 s/b 67. Bloomers!
Reid changed the cloture vote rules to start floor voting on certain presidential appointments. I believe it was appointments to federal judge positions. Cloture still requires 60 votes for all bills, and Supreme Court justices.
Reid’s Rules of Order for the Senate have given the Senate majority leader virtual dictatorial power over the Senate. Change of the 2/3rds rule to 3/5ths invoking cloture or consent to Judicial/Cabinet nominations was pre-Reid. Reid further eroded minority input by changing consent to 1/2 plus one of Senators present for lower level nominations, often referenced as “the nuclear option”.
Veto overrides yet remain at the 2/3rds requirement. However, neither consent nor veto can be achieved until cloture stops debate. SCOTUS ruled against BHO’s direct recess appointments despite Senate declared sessions to the contrary.
There are terminological subtleties at work here. When a Republican minority insists on extended debate and refuses to permit a vote, it is "filibustering" and "obstructionist." When a democrat minority refuses to permit a vote, the press merely asserts that it takes 60 votes to pass a bill.
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