CLOTURE

U.S. Senators have one extraordinary right which makes it very difficult to move a bill quickly through the Senate-- the right to unlimited debate. Cloture is the procedure to trump their right to unlimited debate-- and overcome a filibuster-- but since it limits Senators‘ rights it requires 60 votes to pass. On a practical level what that means is that if a bill doesn‘t have 60 supporters it is probably not going to pass-- without 60 votes for cloture it would only take one determined Senator to kill it.

Next Term: CLOAKROOM