This project was born out of pure, unadulterated rage. Read why...

A filibuster is a form of obstruction in a legislature or other decision-making body whereby a lone member can elect to delay or entirely prevent a vote on a proposal.¹

A cloture motion is the only formal procedure that Senate rules provide for breaking a filibuster.² If a cloture vote succeeds by gaining 60% support, then the filibuster ends and a vote may take place. If it fails, the Senate moves on to other business.

Sure they can. All it would take is a vote... assuming that vote didn't get filibustered. The U.S. House of Representatives used the filibuster until 1842, when they decided votes were taking too long and eliminated it.¹ It's about time folks.

Some view the filibuster as a safety valve that prevents the majority party from running amok... that the Senate is a place where consensus should take place rather than simple majority. I agree with this, but there has got to be a better way. Why not 60 votes across the board? Same result, without the time suck.

I'm not making any of this up. The data that powers this site comes from a number of sources including: Senate.gov and Govtrack.us. XML files from these sources are pulled in, parsed, and aggregated daily.

My premise is that a vote against a cloture motion is equal to a vote for a filibuster. So basically, the obstruction rate is the number of Nay votes on cloture motions, divided by the total number of cloture votes in the given time period.

Please note, I am currently only considering votes since the beginning of the 111th Congress (2009-present).

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I just might be. Please feel free to post your thoughts on the comments page. And still share it with your friends: