Today, there’s a chance that the U.S. Senate will return to some
semblance of a functioning legislative body. A majority of
senators could vote to eliminate Rule XXII, which authorizes the
notorious filibuster. Article 1, Section 6 of the Constitution,
which gives to both houses of Congress the determination of “the
rules of its proceedings,” offers that opportunity on the first
day of each new Congress. The filibuster, which requires a
supermajority to cut off debate, entered the Senate’s rules in
1807 as a courtesy to speakers. Since then, Rule XXII has
metastasized into a procedural vise that threatens the
democratic foundation of our government. The filibuster lost all
semblance of being an aid to discussion in the middle of the
19th century, when some senators began using the rule to hold
the floor for lengthy speeches to prevent voting on bills they
didn’t like. Until 40 years ago, this partisan weapon was used
sparingly — no more than 10 times in any two-year congressional
session. Then, in the 1970s,