Proponents of the SAVE America Act want Majority Leader John Thune, R-SD, to bring the bill to the floor and challenge its opponents to filibuster it. Thune has so far refused, arguing that the strategy is unworkable because Republicans don’t have the votes needed to invoke cloture (i.e., end a filibuster) on the election overhaul bill.
Thune’s implicit assumption is that the Senate can’t pass major legislation without first invoking cloture on it. In other words, Democrats are holding up the SAVE America Act because they won’t vote for cloture.
Yet the Senate’s present reliance on the cloture to pass legislation is a recent development. And a closer look at how cloture works in practice suggests that the majority party is responsible for its increased use - not just the minority.
