when did the filibuster start in the us senate
Filibuster in the United States Senate The ability to block a measure through extended debate was an inadvertent side effect of an 1806 rule change, and was infrequently used during much of the 19th and 20th centuries. In 1970, the Senate adopted a "two-track" procedure to prevent filibusters from stopping all other Senate business. The minority then felt politically safer in threatening filibusters more regularly, which became normalized over time to the point that 60 votes are now required to end debate on nearly every controversial legislative item. As a result, the modern "filibuster" rarely manifests as an extended floor debate. Instead, "the contemporary Senate has morphed into a 60-vote institution — the new normal for approving measures or matters — a fundamental transformation from earlier years."[2] This effective supermajority requirement has had very significant policy and political impacts on Congress and the other branches of government.
United States Senate Each senator chooses a desk based on seniority within the party. By custom, the leader of each party sits in the front row along the center aisle. Forty-eight of the desks date back to 1819, when the Senate chamber was reconstructed after the original contents were destroyed in the 1812 Burning of Washington. Further desks of similar design were added as new states entered the Union.[30] It is a tradition that each senator who uses a desk inscribes his or her name on the inside of the desk's drawer.[31]
United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the United States Congress. The Senate is the upper chamber. Together they compose the legislature of the United States.
Flag Desecration Amendment The most recent attempt to adopt a flag desecration amendment failed in the United States Senate by one vote on June 27, 2006.[1][2]