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This fact brief was originally published as an experiment to test the concepts behind fact briefs.

Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of useful information in fact briefs like this one, not all of them reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

FACT BRIEF

Did Democrats make record use of the filibuster in the last Congress?

Sunday, June 27, 2021

By Stevie Rosignol-Cortez

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YES

The filibuster, which allows the Senate minority party to block legislation by refusing to end debate, has been used by both Democrats and Republicans, almost always while occupying the Senate minority.

While filibusters are used frequently, they are only recorded when a cloture vote is called by the majority party, which can end debate with 60 votes.

During the 2019-2020 Congressional term, a record-breaking 328 filibusters were recorded with Democrats in the minority.

Since 2009, 657 filibusters were recorded under Democratic minorities while 609 filibusters were recorded under Republican minorities.

Research by Slate on filibusters between 1991 and 2008 found that Democrats successfully filibustered 63 times while Republicans successfully filibustered 89 times.

President Biden recently proposed requiring a Senator to be on the floor speaking to preserve a filibuster. Filibuster rules may be changed by a simple majority vote, as they are not mentioned in the Constitution or legislation.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

US Senate Filibuster

Brookings What is the Senate filibuster, and what would it take to eliminate it?

US Senate Senate action on cloture motions since 1917

Google Docs Filibusters by Party (2008-2021)

Slate Why the filibuster is OK for Democrats but not for Republicans

Vox Biden’s plan for a 'talking filibuster,' briefly explained

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Gigafact

Between 2020 and 2022, under close editorial supervision, Gigafact contracted a group of freelance writers and editors to test the concepts for fact briefs and provide inputs to our software development process. We call this effort Gigafact Foundry. Over the course of these two years, Gigafact Foundry writers published over 1500 fact briefs in response to claims they found online. Their important work forms the basis of Gigafact formats and editorial guidelines, and is available to the public on Gigafact.org. Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of relevant information to be found, not all fact briefs produced by Gigafact Foundry reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date and need to be looked at with fresh eyes, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

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About fact briefs published on Gigafact

Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.