The Daily Show: Ears Edition - The Filibuster - If You Don’t Know, Now You Know

Episode Date: July 15, 2022

The Senate filibuster is one of the biggest things standing in the way of anti-voter suppression laws, raising the minimum wage and immigration reform. What is this loophole, and how does it affect governing today?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Ditch the other hiring sites and let zip recruiter find what you're looking for, the needle in the haystack. Four out of five employers who post on zip recruiter get a quality candidate within the first day Try it for free at this exclusive web address zip recruiter.com slash zip recruiter the smartest way to hire You're listening to Comedy Central The filibuster and before you say oh, that is some boring Senate rule, what the fuck does that have to do with me, Trevor. First of all, please do not curse on my show. There's no need to be crude.

And secondly, it actually has to do with pretty much everything right now. Think of all the big issues that President Biden wants to tackle. Voter suppression, protecting unions, immigration reform, finding out who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who snich who snich then then then then then then then then then then then then then then then the big issues that President Biden wants to tackle. Voter suppression, protecting unions, immigration reform, finding out who snitched on his dog major. Right now, Senate Republicans can block Joe Biden from doing any of that stuff, which is why now Biden is saying he wants to shake things up. For the first time in his presidency, President Biden is making a case for not eliminating, but reforming the Senate legislative filibuster.

You've been reluctant to do away with the filibuster. Aren't you going to have to choose between preserving the filibuster and advancing your agenda? Yes. But here's the choice. I don't think you have to eliminate the filibuster. You have to do it what it used to be when I first got to the Senate and back back back back back back back back back back back to to to to to to to to to a filibuster, you had to stand up and command the floor. And you had to keep talking alone. So you got to work for the filibuster. So you're for that reform, you're for bringing back the talking filibus. I am.

That's what it was supposed to be. It almost is getting to the point where the democracies, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, the, to, to, the, to, to, to, the, to, the, the, the, to, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, the, the, the, the, the, the, to, to, the, to, to, the, to, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, to, the, to stop the filibuster entirely. He just wants to slow it down. Kind of like how they try and slow drivers down with those little speed bumps that they installed around my neighborhoods elementary school. At least I think those were speed bumps. And this may seem like a small change, but making things just a little more annoying

could actually make a big difference. I mean, think about it. We buy stuff th stuff stuff stuff stuff stuff stuff stuff stuff stuff stuff stuff stuff stuff stuff stuff stuff stuff stuff stuff stuff stuff stuff stuff stuff stuff stuff can get it in one click. But when you actually have to go down to the store, then all of a sudden you're like, man, I have to find my keys, you know what, I don't need that hot medicine, I'll be fine. But the question is, how did the filibuster become the legislation buster that it is today? Well, let's find out in another episode of, if you don't know, now you know. Let's start with the simplest explanation of the filibuster. It's basically a loophole in the Senate rules for blocking legislation. Because even though you only need 51 votes to pass a bill, you need 60 votes to stop the debate

over voting on that bill in the first place. Which means as long as the minority party can keep debating, then the bill is basically dead. And if you're wondering, why on earth with the founding fathers put that put that in the Constitution? Well, they didn't. The filibuster began as a historical accident. It's not some great tradition in the Senate thap protected by the Constitution that happened in 1805 after Aaron Burke suggests that a rules change. Aaron Burr, as vice president in the early 1800s, was going over these rules of the Senate,

and he made a critical mistake. He thought, we don't really need a way to stop a debate, do we? I mean, there's just a few of us. Like, we will debate until we're th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the th. th. th. th. th. the th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. the the th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the thr. thr. thr. thr. thr. thr. thr. thrown. thri. thri. thru. thru. thru. thru. thru. thru. thru. thru. their say. How slow could the Senate really be? Nobody knew it at the time. It would be three more decades before the first filibuster was actually mounted. But that was a moment the Senate created the filibuster. That's right. The filibuster isn't in the Constitution. It's just a rule that was made up by that guy who shot Lin Manuel Miranda. And it didn't even start out as a way to block legislation. It was a way for the Senate to keep debate open, not to debate for so long that nobody could ever actually vote on a bill.

So its original purpose is completely different from what people decided to use it for later on. It's insane. It's sort of like how Facebook was invented as a way to see which of your classmates were hot. And then years later became a way to organize a l. to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the to the the to the th. th. th. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. the. the. th. th. thi. thi. the, the. th. the th. th. th. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th...... th. th. th. thi. thi. thi. the. the. the. the. the. thean. thean. theananananananananananananananananananananananananneneeanneean. theanneeannenenee. the. thethen years later became a way to organize a lynch mob for Mike Pence, who, by the way, is hot. And you might wonder why senators back then would want to risk having an endless debate. But don't forget, guys, in the 1800s, it wasn't anything better to do.

I mean, it was either listen to Thaddeus, talk about a bill, or take a bumpy carage right back back back back back back back back back black people wanted to discuss their terms of employment. You're probably going to want to hear what Thaddeus has to say. Either way, eventually senators realized that they could block legislation by debating forever. And that could get pretty ridiculous because there was no rule on what counted as a debate. So senators came up with all kinds of random ways to fill that that time, which led to moments like this. Louisiana Democrat, Huey Long filibustered several bills. In arguing against a bill, he recited recipes for salad dressing and discussed at length the best way to fry oysters. His most famous filibuster was on June 12, 1935. He was able to speak without stop for 15 hours and 30 minutes.

Running out of things to say about the bill, he offered to give advice on any subject someone requested. Yep, in 1935, this white dude rambled on about nothing for over 15 hours and somehow he gets zero credit for inventing the podcast. So unfair. But the Senate is crazy man. This guy got on the floor and talked for 15 hours about oysters and salad dressing. I mean, they should make it a rule that you at least have to try to connect your speech to the bill that you're supposed to be debating. I guarantee this salad dressing is delicious.

But you know what? Doesn't leave a good taste in my mouth? But still I'm not going to lie. It's impressive that he could talk for that long. That shit is hard. I can't even think of 20 seconds of stuff to talk about to a co-worker in an elevator. So, going to floor 9, huh? Yeah, how's this weather we're having? So much weather. I think I'm just going to get out here. I will say though, it makes sense that senators are so good at filibustering, because

most of them are grandparents. Don't forget that. Visit your granddad and see if he doesn't take three hours to tell you a story that happened in 20 minutes. You're filibustering, Grandpa! But it wasn't until the late 1950s that the filibuster started to become more common. And what cause was so inspiring to senators at that time that they just had to stand up and speak for hours?

Being racist. For a few decades, the filibuster is used, but pretty sparingly. Then the Senate starts to consider civil rights legislation. And Southern senators really hate this, but they don't have the votes to actually defeat the bills, so they start using the filibuster. It became a tool that Southern senators used to prevent the federal government

from intervening in racial segregation. Perhaps the most famous one was when South Carolina's Stroman against the 1957 Civil Rights Act. Thurman notoriously read the phone book, clocking in it more than 24 hours, to try to block a 1957 civil rights bill. How did you last 24 hours? You never left the Senate floor. I had gone down to the Senate bath for three or four days beforehand,

and dried out my body. Yeah, so I wouldn't be tempted to go to the bathroom. And so, and so I was able to do that. Oh, Strom, you are too much. And when I think about all those black people who suffered because of you. Ah! Ha! Ha! Ha! to thrown, thrown, thrown out the story! thrown out his body to help him. Yo, for real, man. How gross was that story? This guy dried out his body to help him filibuster? You know someone is committed to racism when they're willing to jerky themselves for it.

And it really is amazing what humans can accomplish when confronted with their worst fears. Just as a mother will be able to lift a car off of the ground to save her child, a racist senator will suddenly be able to speak for days at a time, only if it will stop a black person from using his bathroom. I mean, the filibuster was used to block black people so many times. I'm surprised they never used it at nightclubs. Uh, uh, a black guy. Hey, before I let you in, have I ever told you about about th. told you about about told you about told you about told you about told you about told you about told you about told you about told you about told you about told you about told you about told you about told you to to to to to to to to to, have I ever told you about my salad dressing? Two tablespoons of lemon juice, a pinch of rosemary. And what you want to try and do is make sure that, okay, he's gone. All right. Now, eventually, the Senate decided that all of these talkathons were slowing things down

too much. So in 1975, they made what they thought was a small adjustment to the rules. Instead of having to speak, a senator could just announce that they planned to speak. And unless there was 60 votes to prevent them, the filibuster would be considered successful. And that actually worked for a while, until two things happened. America elected a black president, and a Senate minority leader who was willing to do anything to stop him. The practice became an art form for Republicans under minority leader Mitch McConnell during the Obama years McConnell impeded nominees and legislation left and right. He has the nickname the Grim Reaper for a

reason. Today it's being used in a different way it's being used to effectively kill a measure a bill a proposal that the minority really doesn't like. In fact, there have been more filibusters during Obama's time in office than in the 50s, 60s, and 70s combined. Over the entire history of the Senate, before President Obama, just 68 judicial and executive branch nominees were blocked and required closure, which ends a filibuster and forces an up or down vote.

By contrast, 79 of President Obama's nominees required cloture from 2009 to 2013 alone. Republicans used the filibuster against virtually every controversial bill and nomination, and some that weren't controversial at all. Mitch McConnell has the devious distinction of being the only sitting senator that filibustered his own bill. God damn. Mitch McConnell loves to filibuster so much, he filibustered his own bill. And he had to get four ribs removed to be able to do it. The man is sick.

But yes, once Obama became president, McConnell began filibustering everything. Obama wanted to appoint a judge, McConnell blocked it. Obama wanted to pass a bill. McConnell stopped him. Obama wanted to watch something on Netflix. McConnell hid the remote in his neck falls. Ma. I haven't seen it anywhere.

Ma, maybe you should write a book. And once McConnell decided to block Obama's entire agenda. That became the new precedent. You know, when Democrats got the chance, they blocked President Trump's agenda just as hard, to the point where now, practically every piece of legislation in the Senate needs 60 votes to pass. And that's why there's a movement to get rid of the filibuster entirely, because it's not healthy for a democracy

if the losers can always block the winners from passing the agenda. Now, the Democrats the Democrats the Democrats the Democrats the Democrats the Democrats the Democrats the Democrats the Democrats the Democrats the Democrats the Democrats the Democrats from passing their agenda. Now, the Democrats don't have the votes right now to kill the filibuster completely, but based on Joe Biden's interview, it seems like they may be willing to make it more annoying again, which won't stop filibusters from happening, but at least we'll finally get to find out what Mitch McConnell uses in his salad dressing. Oh, so what you want is the cheers of poor people, mrrh, and then you want to grind it up with oppression. So, that's the filibuster. And if you don't know, now you know.

The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Ears Edition. Subscribe to the Daily Show on YouTube for exclusive content and stream full episodes anytime on Paramount Plus. This has been a Comedy Central podcast.