Procedures

• Introduction:

  • As desired, have students read some or all of the provided articles to contextualize the filibuster and cloture as tools of the Senate.

  • Provide students with the below background vocabulary and cloture timeline

• Background Vocabulary:

  • Advise and Consent: The Constitutional proviso that Presidential nominations to executive and judicial posts (federal judges and justices, Cabinet secretaries, agency directors, ambassadors, etc.) only take effect after Senate confirmation.

  • Filibuster: An attempt to delay or block legislative action in the Senate by dominating floor debate.

  • Cloture: The ability of Senators to vote to conclude debate (generally in the form of a filibuster) with a supermajority vote, first adopted via Senate Rule 22 in 1917. Cloture originally required a vote of at least two-thirds of the Senate. In 1975, the minimum cloture margin was reduced from a two-thirds to a three-fifths supermajority.

  • “Nuclear Option”: Lowering the cloture requirement to a simple majority vote (effectively eliminating the filibuster as an available tool for the minority party)

• Background Timeline:

  • Twice in the past five years, the majority party in the Senate has changed the cloture requirements, in response to increased use of the filibuster by the minority party in the past few decades as a tool to delay or block Senate approval of Presidential nominations.

  • In 2013, the Democrat-controlled Senate lowered the cloture margin to from a two-thirds supermajority to a simple majority for all confirmation votes except those pertaining to Supreme Court justices.

  • In 2017, the Republican-controlled Senate lowered the cloture margin for Supreme Court justices from a two-thirds supermajority to a simple majority.

• Preliminary Discussion Questions/Writing Prompts:

  • Why would the Democrats want to lower the cloture margin in 2013 and the Republicans want to lower it in 2017?

  • What’s an argument in favor of requiring a supermajority vote to invoke cloture? What’s an argument against it?

  • Is the filibuster a valuable tool that should be available to the minority party? Why or why not?

• Introductory Video Clip:

  Video Clip: The Nuclear Option, 2017 Edition (2:31)

  • Majority Leader Mitch McConnell introduces a motion to apply the 2013 Nuclear Option rule to SCOTUS nominations. The motion is denied by the presiding Senator (it was later passed on a party-line vote after Senator McConnell appealed her ruling to the full Senate) and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer asks clarifying parliamentary questions.

• Video Clips & Synthesis/Evaluation:

  Provide students with the handout below and have them complete it as they view the below video clips:

  Handout: “The Nuclear Option” - Lowering the Cloture Threshold, 2013 and 2017 (Google Doc)

  Video Clip: 2013: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) explains decision to institute “Nuclear Option” for most Presidential nominations (2:36)

  Video Clip: 2013: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) responds to Senate Democrats’ institution of “Nuclear Option” (1:15)

  Video Clip: 2017: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) explains decision to extend “Nuclear Option” to SCOTUS nominations (2:04)

  Video Clip: 2017: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) responds to Senate Republicans’ extension of “Nuclear Option” (2:29)

• Reflective Discussion Questions/Writing Prompts:

  • What similarities were evident between the two Majority Leader speeches despite their difference of party?

  • What differences were present? Did the Republican and Democratic messages regarding the nuclear option remain consistent from 2013 to 2017? Justify your position!

  • Do you feel that one side or the other (regardless of your personal views on the nuclear option) did a better job making their case in 2013? In 2017? Justify your position!

  • Did anything in the clips change your position on whether or not the filibuster is a valuable tool that should be available to the minority party? Why or why not?

  • What do you think is the likelihood that at some point in the future, the majority cloture margin will be extended to legislation, effectively ending the filibuster? If you believe that will happen, what’s your prediction as to when it will be?

• Extension Activities:

  • Political Cartoon: Create a political cartoon that might have been published in either 2013 or 2017 related to the use of the nuclear option.

  • Letter to the Editor: Compose a letter to the editor that could have been sent to a newspaper in either 2013 or 2017 taking a position on the use of the nuclear option. Remember that letters to the editor are generally limited to 150 words, so make your points succinctly!

  • Radio Ad-ctivism: Take a position on the nuclear option and create a 30-second radio ad that encourages voters to call their Senators and advocate for that position.

  • Recipe for the Nuclear Option: During some lengthy filibusters, Senators have been known to read recipes to their colleagues. Use the traditional recipe format (a list of ingredients followed by a list of directions) to create a “recipe” for the invocation of the nuclear option.

  • The End of the Filibuster As We Know It: Presume that within the next five years, the cloture margin for the filibuster will be reduced to a simple majority for legislation as well as appointments. Create a print or video ad for a “doomsday prepper” survivalist backpack containing (literal OR figurative!) items a Senator would need to prepare for the end of the filibuster.