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bject to a filibuster this is accomplished by limiting all senate floor debate to 20 hours 83 the senate filibuster is frequently debated as the constitution specifies a simple majority threshold to pass legislation and some critics feel the de facto three fifths threshold for general legislation prevents beneficial laws from passing steven wirls argues that the filibuster elevated in importance in 1917 was prominently and persistently wielded in defense of white supremacy 10 dubious discuss the nuclear option was exercised by both major parties in the 2010s to weaken the filibuster for confirmations there is a desire within congress to adjust the filibuster to lessen the amount of filibusters ways to reform the filibuster mainly include restoring a talking filibuster or adjusting the numbers of votes needed in varying ways 84 supporters generally consider the filibuster to be an important protection for the minority views and a check against the unfettered single party rule when the same party holds the presidency and a majority in both the house and senate 85 86 voting when the debate concludes the motion in question is put to a vote the senate often votes by voice vote the presiding officer puts the question and members respond either yea aye in favor of the motion or nay against the motion the presiding officer then announces the result of the voice vote a senator may challenge the presiding officer s assessment and request a recorded vote the request may be granted only if it is seconded by one fifth of the senators present in practice however senators second requests for recorded votes as a matter of courtesy 87 when a recorded vote is held the clerk calls the roll of the senate in alphabetical order senators respond when their name is called senators who were not in the chamber when their name was called may still cast a vote so long as the voting remains open the vote is closed at the discretion of the presiding officer but must remain open for a minimum of 15 minutes a majority of those voting determines whether the motion carries 87 if the vote is tied the vice president if present is entitled to cast a tie breaking vote if the vice president is not present the motion fails 88 filibustered bills require a three fifths majority to overcome the cloture vote which usually means 60 votes to pass a bill a simple majority usually 51 votes is needed some news media have confused the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster with the 51 votes needed to approve a bill for example usa today erroneously stating the vote was 58 39 in favor of the provision establishing concealed carry permit reciprocity in the 48 states that have concealed weapons laws that fell two votes short of the 60 needed to approve the measure 87 closed session main article closed sessions of the united states senate on occasion the senate may go into what is called a secret or closed session during a closed session the chamber doors are closed cameras are turned off and the galleries are completely cleared of anyone not sworn to secrecy not instructed in the rules of the closed session or not essential to the session closed sessions are rare and usually held only when the senate is discussing sensitive subject matter such as information critical to national security private communications from the president or deliberations during impeachment trials a senator may call for and force a closed session if the motion is seconded by at least one other member but an agreement usually occurs beforehand 89 if the senate does not approve the release of a secret transcript the transcript is stored in the office of senate security and ultimately sent to the national archives the proceedings remain sealed indefinitely until the senate votes to remove the injunction of secrecy 90 in 1973 the house adopted a rule that all committee sessions should be open unless a majority on the committee voted for a closed session citation needed committees main article united states congressional committee committee room 226 in the dirksen senate office building used for hearings by the senate judiciary committee the senate uses committees and their subcommittees for a variety of purposes including the review of bills and the oversight of the executive branch formally the whole senate appoints committee members in practice the choice of members is made by the political parties generally each party honors the preferences of individual senators giving priority based on seniority each party is allocated seats on committees in proportion to its overall strength due to the bipartisan nature of committees senators are occasionally able to find similarities across the aisle that are beyond their committee interest which may aid them in getting bills passed in the future 91 most committee work is performed by 16 standing committees each of which has jurisdiction over a field such as finance or foreign relations each standing committee may consider amend and report bills that fall under its jurisdiction each standing committee considers presidential nominations to offices related to its jurisdiction for instance the judiciary committee considers nominees for judgeships and the foreign relations committee considers nominees for positions in the department of state committees may block nominees and impede bills from reaching the floor of the senate standing committees also oversee the departments and agencies of the executive branch in discharging their duties standing committees have the power to hold hearings and to subpoena witnesses and evidence citation needed each senate committee and subcommittee is led by a chair usually a member of the majority party formerly committee chairs were determined purely by seniority as a result several elderly senators continued to serve as chair despite severe physical infirmity or even senility 92 committee chairs are elected but in practice seniority is rarely bypassed the chairs hold extensive powers they control the committee s agenda and so decide how much if any time to devote to the consideration of a bill they act with the power of the committee in disapproving or delaying a bill or a nomination by the president they manage on the floor of the full senate the consideration of those bills the committee reports this last role was particularly important in mid century when floor amendments were thought not to be collegial they also have considerable influence senators who cooperate with their committee chairs are likely to accomplish more good for their states than those who do not the senate rules and customs were reformed in the twentieth century largely in the 1970s committee chairmen have less power and are generally more moderate and collegial in exercising it than they were before reform 93 the second highest member the spokesperson on the committee for the minority party is known in most cases as the ranking member 94 senate office buildings external videos senate building washington dc hd from 35mm there are presently three senate office buildings located along constitution avenue north of the capitol they are the russell senate office building the dirksen senate office building and the hart senate office building citation needed criticism see also democratic backsliding in the united states universal suffrage and united states congress outside income and gifts the senate has been characterized as a uniquely counter majoritarian institution in relation to legislatures in other countries political scientist robert dahl wrote of the senate the degree of unequal representation in the u s senate is by far the most extreme and a profound violation of the democratic idea of political equality among citizens 95 the countermajoritarianism is rooted in two features first the senate s apportionment scheme which apportions seats based on states rather than population resulting in a small state advantage second the filibuster enables a minority of the chamber to block action in the chamber 95 the senate s structure gives states with smaller populations the same number of senators two as states with larger populations historian daniel wirls contends that this structure makes the senate non democratic 10 and levitsky and ziblatt argue that the senate is america s most minoritarian undemocratic institution 96 the disparity in population between the most and least populous states has grown over time in 1790 virginia had 10 times the population of rhode island while california had 70 times the population of wyoming in 2020 97 despite a 1 70 ratio of wyoming to california voters as of 2020 both states are guaranteed two senators u s citizens in the district of columbia and in u s territories have never been represented in the senate 98 99 one analysis of democracies by harvard professors daniel ziblatt and steven levitsky found that only argentina and brazil s upper chambers deviate further from the one person one vote principle than the u s senate does 100 this disparity in representation between large and small states has increasingly favored republicans since the 1960s 101 102 103 with david wasserman estimating in 2018 that democrats would need to keep winning the popular vote by more than 6 to maintain control of the senate 104 elizabeth rusch and daniel lazare argue that the senate s structure gives voters from small states disproportionate influence and allows them to benefit from disproportionate amounts of federal funding when compared to voters from larger states 97 105 ian millhiser argues that the points made in favor of the status quo do not hold up since some states vote the same as large states and that the current system was just a political compromise to unite 13 sovereign nations after the revolutionary war he also documents 21st century examples of how this malaportionment has led to the party receiving the most votes losing control of the senate and as a result the judiciary and predicts the trend looks set to continue and possibly increase 106 by the beginning of the 21st century two thirds of legislatures globally had become unicameral with the remaining upper houses tending to become more representative or less powerful in contrast the u s senate remained an outlier by not following what ziblatt and levitsky refer to as a democratizing trend 107 counter arguments see also federalism pluralism political theory and tyranny of the majority james madison emphasized that the senate serves as a check against the potential tyranny of the majority ensuring that the interests of smaller states are not drowned out by the more populous ones this was despite madison being initially opposed to equal suffrage before coming around to support it 108 in federalist no 62 madison writes about this tradeoff it must be acknowledged that this complicated check on legislation may in some instances be injurious as well as beneficial and that the peculiar defense which it involves in favor of the smaller states would be more rational if any interests common to them and distinct from those of the other states would otherwise be exposed to peculiar danger but as the larger states will always be able by their power over the supplies to defeat unreasonable exertions of this prerogative of the lesser states today while a populous state like texas has the same senate representation as smaller states its delegation in the house of representatives is several times larger than those of many smaller states combined political scientist william f connelly jr in his book james madison rules america the constitutional origins of congressional partisanship argues that this structure provides stability and continuity balancing the rapidly changing political winds of the house of representatives 109 yale legal scholar akhil reed amar in his book america s constitution a biography explains that the senate s structure is integral to the federal system ensuring that smaller states have a voice in the democratic process 110 stanford political theorist bruce e cain writes that equal representation in the senate fosters a more inclusive and representative democracy where diverse regional interests are considered in the legislative process ensuring that legislation must account for a wide array of perspectives promoting broader national cohesion 111 on the one hand some claim the u s senate has a bias against republicans however since 1920 democrats have controlled the senate for about 58 years during most of that period senate democrats earned a larger share of senate seats than their share of the national house vote since filibuster rules were revised in 1975 the democratic party earned filibuster proof supermajorities three times after the 1974 1976 and 2008 senate elections the last time republicans earned the same was in the 1920s equal representation for smaller states was pivotal for the legislative accomplishments of the clinton presidency like the omnibus budget reconciliation act of 1993 and the obama presidency like the affordable care act at a time when democrats earned more seats in lower population states like north dakota south dakota montana west virginia nebraska and iowa 112 in the australian senate senators are elected via single transferable vote proportional representation other nations have adopted comparable structures that provide for equal representation of sub national regions regardless of population these include australia where the senate allocates twelve senators to each of the six original states and two to each territory and switzerland where each canton receives two seats and each half canton receives one seat in the council of states ständerat regardless of population size 113 in south africa a unitary state each of the nine provinces is accorded an equal delegation of ten representatives irrespective of population size in the national council of provinces the upper house of parliament 114 see also divided government in the united states divided control of the us government between political parties edward m kennedy institute for the united states senate educational institution and museum in massachusetts elections in the united states minoritarianism primacy of a minority in decision making notes independent sens angus king maine and bernie sanders vermont caucus with the democratic party 1 alaska for its primary elections only california and washington additionally utilize a nonpartisan blanket primary and mississippi uses the two round system for their respective primary elections not to be confused with proportional representation an electoral system that typically elects multiple members of a party to a legislature based on that party s percentage of a popular vote references maine independent angus king to caucus with senate democrats politico november 14 2012 archived from the original on december 8 2020 retrieved november 28 2020 angus king of maine who cruised to victory last week running as an independent said wednesday that 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