Snubbing the White House, Without Snubbing the White House
Who is this guy Cloture, and why don't people like him?
"I strongly object to Cloture," Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) told his colleagues on the Senate floor yesterday morning.
  Cloture nay-sayers, from left, Sens. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), Mel Martinez (R-Fla.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Arlen Specter (R-Pa.). (By Gerald Martineau -- The Washington Post)
VIDEO | The Washington Post's Dana Milbank sketches a Hillary Clinton fundraiser in Washington, D.C.
Washington SketchA national political reporter for the Post, Milbank writes Washington Sketch, an observational column about political theater in the White House, Congress and elsewhere in the capital. He covered the 2000 and 2004 presidential campaigns and President Bush's first term. Before coming to the Post as a Style political writer in 2000, he covered the Clinton White House for the New Republic and Congress for the Wall Street Journal. |
Sign Up for RSS Feed"I hope we can avoid the Cloture," agreed Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Tex.).
"We're going to defeat Cloture," promised Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.).
"I will oppose Cloture," announced Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), "and encourage my colleagues to do the same."
Cloture never had a chance. In a vote just before noon, the Senate voted against Cloture, 63 to 33. Just to rub it in, a second vote was immediately held, and Cloture lost again, 61 to 34.
"I'm disappointed we will not have Cloture today," said Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), even though, for complicated reasons, he voted against Cloture both times. "But everyone should know we will have Cloture again later on in the day."
For those seeking closure on the whole cloture thing, cloture is the Senate's procedure under which a three-fifths majority of the chamber can overcome a filibuster and force a vote. But in the immigration debate, this bit of parliamentary arcana has become the focus, replacing "amnesty" as the most-favored buzzword. Those seeking to derail the immigration compromise reached with the White House needn't state their opposition to the deal; they merely state an abhorrence of cloture.
Kaye Reyes, a high school Latin teacher from Birmingham, Ala., was visiting the Capitol and, stumbling upon the great cloture debate, was inspired to poetry. She shared her new verse, "Cloture," with The Post's Lyndsey Layton:
Upon your shoulders it does rest
If this nation remains the best.
Cloture is all wrong --
Post a Comment
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.