Learn something new every day More Info... by email During a
debate in the U.S. Senate, either once cloture has been invoked
or if the Senate is operating under a unanimous consent
agreement, a senator can only speak if another senator yields
time. Generally, the only senators who can yield time are the
floor managers for the bill. However, there are times when a
senator who has been given the opportunity to speak can yield
time to another senator, if the time has not been used in its
entirety. In order to yield time, a senator declares he or she
is yielding time to the Senate president. At that point, the
senator can then yield time to any senator he chooses. In most
cases, this would likely be a senator who is willing to bolster
the argument of the yielding senator. There are a number of
situations in which a senator could feel compelled to yield
time. Sometimes, a senator may yield time simply because he
wishes to have a question answered. In other cases, a senator
could yield time simply because other bus