WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.899 Welcome in. It is really great to have you sitting 00:00:02.899 --> 00:00:04.940 down with us today. Yeah, thanks for joining 00:00:04.940 --> 00:00:07.540 us. You know, we spend a lot of time looking 00:00:07.540 --> 00:00:09.900 at the surface of things, the headlines, the 00:00:09.900 --> 00:00:11.859 major policy announcements, that kind of stuff. 00:00:11.960 --> 00:00:15.300 The loud stuff. Right, exactly. But today, our 00:00:15.300 --> 00:00:18.160 mission is to take a deep dive into the underlying 00:00:18.160 --> 00:00:20.539 machinery of the United States government itself. 00:00:21.229 --> 00:00:23.769 We're looking at the ultimate playbook of political 00:00:23.769 --> 00:00:26.609 power. And it is quite the playbook. Our single 00:00:26.609 --> 00:00:29.510 source for today's deep dive is a comprehensive 00:00:29.510 --> 00:00:32.210 Wikipedia article detailing the standing rules 00:00:32.210 --> 00:00:34.929 of the United States Senate. And look, I know 00:00:34.929 --> 00:00:36.990 parliamentary procedure sounds like it might 00:00:36.990 --> 00:00:39.969 be a cure for insomnia. It really does. But stick 00:00:39.969 --> 00:00:43.009 with us here. This document is filled with loopholes, 00:00:43.070 --> 00:00:46.170 invisible pause buttons, and bizarre traditions 00:00:46.170 --> 00:00:48.450 that dictate every single action taken in the 00:00:48.450 --> 00:00:50.850 Senate. To really understand how this playbook 00:00:50.850 --> 00:00:55.549 operates, we have to look at the foundation of 00:00:55.549 --> 00:00:57.729 the system. Right. Article 1, Section 5 of the 00:00:57.729 --> 00:01:01.229 Constitution states quite simply that each house 00:01:01.229 --> 00:01:04.129 may determine the rules of its proceedings. Meaning 00:01:04.129 --> 00:01:07.170 they just made it up. Exactly. The framers essentially 00:01:07.170 --> 00:01:10.010 handed the Senate a blank slate and told them 00:01:10.010 --> 00:01:12.269 to figure out how they wanted to run themselves. 00:01:12.609 --> 00:01:15.489 Over the centuries, they've built this highly 00:01:15.489 --> 00:01:18.540 complex, deeply entrenched system. Currently, 00:01:18.560 --> 00:01:21.219 there are 44 rules in total governing the body. 00:01:21.379 --> 00:01:24.140 The most recent major revision to the entire 00:01:24.140 --> 00:01:27.579 rulebook happened in January of 2013, but the 00:01:27.579 --> 00:01:30.980 newest individual rule was Rule 44, added back 00:01:30.980 --> 00:01:34.239 in 2006. Introduced by the Legislative Transparency 00:01:34.239 --> 00:01:36.459 and Accountability Act. Right. And that specific 00:01:36.459 --> 00:01:39.590 rule deals with... Earmarks, which are those 00:01:39.590 --> 00:01:42.010 those highly specific legislative provisions 00:01:42.010 --> 00:01:45.609 that direct funds to particular projects in a 00:01:45.609 --> 00:01:47.469 senator's home state. Which is interesting because 00:01:47.469 --> 00:01:50.170 adding a rule specifically for earmarks highlights 00:01:50.170 --> 00:01:52.189 how these rules evolve to address the political 00:01:52.189 --> 00:01:55.010 realities of the time. Yeah. These 44 rules aren't 00:01:55.010 --> 00:01:57.409 just administrative red tape. They are tactical 00:01:57.409 --> 00:02:00.489 tools. Every procedural court can be weaponized 00:02:00.489 --> 00:02:02.569 if you know how to read the manual. OK, let's 00:02:02.569 --> 00:02:04.909 unpack this, starting with one of the best examples 00:02:04.909 --> 00:02:06.670 of a tactical tool, the quorum. Oh, this is a 00:02:06.670 --> 00:02:09.020 great one. Since the Constitution requires a 00:02:09.020 --> 00:02:11.379 majority to be present to actually do business, 00:02:11.620 --> 00:02:14.259 you might assume attendance is strictly monitored, 00:02:14.479 --> 00:02:17.439 right? You would think so. But instead, the Senate 00:02:17.439 --> 00:02:20.680 operates on this polite fiction. Under their 00:02:20.680 --> 00:02:23.360 rules and customs, a quorum is simply assumed 00:02:23.360 --> 00:02:26.979 to be present at all times. They operate as if 00:02:26.979 --> 00:02:29.819 everyone is in the room unless a senator explicitly 00:02:29.819 --> 00:02:32.800 calls their bluff. And that maneuver is called 00:02:32.800 --> 00:02:36.539 suggesting the absence of a quorum. Any senator 00:02:36.539 --> 00:02:39.199 can trigger this just by standing up and making 00:02:39.199 --> 00:02:42.099 the request. And then what happens? At that point, 00:02:42.159 --> 00:02:44.460 the clerk is required to literally call the role 00:02:44.460 --> 00:02:46.759 of the Senate and note which members are present. 00:02:46.960 --> 00:02:50.659 But, and this is the key, it's rarely done to 00:02:50.659 --> 00:02:52.800 actually check attendance. It's a delay tactic. 00:02:53.199 --> 00:02:56.300 It is effectively a strategic pause button. Think 00:02:56.300 --> 00:02:58.580 about it. If you're in an incredibly stressful, 00:02:58.780 --> 00:03:00.860 high -stakes meeting at your job where tempers 00:03:00.860 --> 00:03:03.340 are flaring and you need to hammer out a compromise. 00:03:03.599 --> 00:03:05.180 You're usually just stuck at the conference table. 00:03:05.400 --> 00:03:07.060 Right. But imagine if you could press a button 00:03:07.060 --> 00:03:09.219 and force the meeting to pause while someone 00:03:09.219 --> 00:03:11.539 slowly reads the name of every single person 00:03:11.539 --> 00:03:14.460 in the company. That buys you vital time. Exactly. 00:03:14.659 --> 00:03:17.319 In the Senate, it allows leaders to step off 00:03:17.319 --> 00:03:20.340 the floor, negotiate in the cloakrooms, or it 00:03:20.340 --> 00:03:22.879 gives a senator time to physically travel from 00:03:22.879 --> 00:03:25.080 their office to the chamber. And once they buy 00:03:25.080 --> 00:03:27.389 that time, how do they restart? That's the beauty 00:03:27.389 --> 00:03:30.289 of it. Once the delay is no longer needed, any 00:03:30.289 --> 00:03:33.550 senator can ask for unanimous consent to rescind 00:03:33.550 --> 00:03:36.590 the quorum call. Assuming no one objects, the 00:03:36.590 --> 00:03:39.110 clerk stops reading names, the pause button is 00:03:39.110 --> 00:03:41.830 released, and action resumes exactly where it 00:03:41.830 --> 00:03:44.770 left off. It's a brilliant piece of spatial manipulation. 00:03:44.909 --> 00:03:47.590 It controls who needs to be in the room and when. 00:03:47.810 --> 00:03:50.650 Absolutely. But once the room is actually engaged, 00:03:50.990 --> 00:03:53.430 the rules governing how they speak are just as 00:03:53.430 --> 00:03:56.080 heavily layered. The floor is presided over by 00:03:56.080 --> 00:03:58.319 the presiding officer. Usually the vice president. 00:03:58.419 --> 00:03:59.919 Right. Acting as the president of the Senate. 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:02.639 When the VP isn't there, it falls to the president 00:04:02.639 --> 00:04:05.340 pro tempore, which basically means for the time 00:04:05.340 --> 00:04:08.080 being. Customarily, that goes to the longest 00:04:08.080 --> 00:04:10.240 serving member of the majority party. And in 00:04:10.240 --> 00:04:13.159 very specific cases, like a presidential impeachment, 00:04:13.520 --> 00:04:16.420 the chief justice of the Supreme Court takes 00:04:16.420 --> 00:04:18.680 the chair. Regardless of who is sitting in that 00:04:18.680 --> 00:04:21.779 chair, a senator can only speak if called upon 00:04:21.779 --> 00:04:25.269 by them. But the presiding officer has very little 00:04:25.269 --> 00:04:28.170 discretionary control, right? Almost none. The 00:04:28.170 --> 00:04:30.949 rules require them to recognize the first senator 00:04:30.949 --> 00:04:34.149 who rises to speak. It's essentially a formal 00:04:34.149 --> 00:04:37.230 game of who stands up fastest. Though custom 00:04:37.230 --> 00:04:39.529 does dictate that the majority and minority leaders 00:04:39.529 --> 00:04:42.490 get priority if they stand up. Right, even if 00:04:42.490 --> 00:04:44.949 someone else jumps up first. The language they 00:04:44.949 --> 00:04:47.509 use, once recognized, is strictly regulated, 00:04:47.730 --> 00:04:50.860 too. Senators have to address all speeches directly 00:04:50.860 --> 00:04:53.560 to the presiding officer, Mr. President or Madam 00:04:53.560 --> 00:04:56.620 President. They are forbidden from directly addressing 00:04:56.620 --> 00:04:59.180 their colleagues. Which feels so counterintuitive 00:04:59.180 --> 00:05:01.860 for a debate. Exactly. If they want to reference 00:05:01.860 --> 00:05:04.220 a peer, they have to use the third person, the 00:05:04.220 --> 00:05:07.019 senior senator from Virginia or the junior senator 00:05:07.019 --> 00:05:09.959 from California. It forces a layer of professional 00:05:09.959 --> 00:05:12.759 distance onto everything. It keeps things deliberately 00:05:12.759 --> 00:05:15.889 formal. But while the manner of speaking is formal, 00:05:16.009 --> 00:05:18.449 the actual content of the speeches is totally 00:05:18.449 --> 00:05:21.730 unrestricted. There's no requirement that a speech 00:05:21.730 --> 00:05:25.110 be germane to the matter at hand. And germaneness 00:05:25.110 --> 00:05:27.750 just means being strictly relevant to the topic. 00:05:27.949 --> 00:05:30.589 Right. A senator could stand up during a debate 00:05:30.589 --> 00:05:33.269 on complex tax policy and talk about a local 00:05:33.269 --> 00:05:36.069 sports team, and they are completely within their 00:05:36.069 --> 00:05:38.410 rights. Which ties perfectly into how the Senate 00:05:38.410 --> 00:05:41.680 bends time to dictate power. Because the Senate 00:05:41.680 --> 00:05:44.180 doesn't operate on standard calendar days. They 00:05:44.180 --> 00:05:46.879 operate on legislative days. Meaning a day begins 00:05:46.879 --> 00:05:49.160 when they convene and only ends when they officially 00:05:49.160 --> 00:05:52.139 adjourn. Right. A single legislative day could 00:05:52.139 --> 00:05:55.279 span a calendar week or even a month. And this 00:05:55.279 --> 00:05:57.399 matters because a senator is limited to making 00:05:57.399 --> 00:06:00.420 no more than two speeches on a motion per legislative 00:06:00.420 --> 00:06:03.300 day. That sounds strict until you factor in two 00:06:03.300 --> 00:06:06.279 details. One, that day might last for weeks. 00:06:06.970 --> 00:06:09.970 And two, those two speeches have absolutely no 00:06:09.970 --> 00:06:12.370 time limit unless restricted by unanimous consent 00:06:12.370 --> 00:06:15.430 or statute. None at all. A senator can hold the 00:06:15.430 --> 00:06:17.509 floor for as long as they are physically capable 00:06:17.509 --> 00:06:19.730 of standing and talking. Here's where it gets 00:06:19.730 --> 00:06:22.189 really interesting. This brings us to the most 00:06:22.189 --> 00:06:25.370 notorious consequence of the rulebook, the filibuster. 00:06:25.569 --> 00:06:28.230 The ultimate tool of obstruction. Exactly. It's 00:06:28.230 --> 00:06:30.910 designed to defeat bills simply by prolonging 00:06:30.910 --> 00:06:33.050 the debate indefinitely. The source provides 00:06:33.050 --> 00:06:36.050 a staggering historical benchmark. The longest 00:06:36.050 --> 00:06:38.829 individual filibuster was by Senator Strom Thurmond. 00:06:38.970 --> 00:06:41.550 Over 24 hours, right? Over 24 hours straight, 00:06:41.730 --> 00:06:43.910 attempting to block the passage of the Civil 00:06:43.910 --> 00:06:47.350 Rights Act of 1957. It's the second longest continuous 00:06:47.350 --> 00:06:49.970 speech in Senate history. What's fascinating 00:06:49.970 --> 00:06:53.069 here is that the endurance test is the cinematic 00:06:53.069 --> 00:06:56.110 version everyone pictures. But a filibuster does 00:06:56.110 --> 00:06:58.990 not actually require a marathon speech. Really? 00:06:59.129 --> 00:07:01.839 No. Because the primary goal is simply to delay 00:07:01.839 --> 00:07:04.279 the final vote, a filibuster frequently takes 00:07:04.279 --> 00:07:06.899 the form of an endless series of dilatory motions. 00:07:07.300 --> 00:07:10.300 Just maneuvers meant to waste time? Right. Demand 00:07:10.300 --> 00:07:12.600 a roll call vote on a minor motion to adjourn. 00:07:12.600 --> 00:07:15.379 That takes 15 minutes. Then propose a spelling 00:07:15.379 --> 00:07:18.319 change to the bill. Another roll call. They throw 00:07:18.319 --> 00:07:20.779 sand in the gears to grind the process to a halt 00:07:20.779 --> 00:07:23.660 without ever having to speak for 24 hours. And 00:07:23.660 --> 00:07:26.019 they get so creative with it. There's this wild 00:07:26.019 --> 00:07:28.620 anecdote from 1922 with Senator Pat Harrison. 00:07:28.779 --> 00:07:31.660 He was filibustering the dire anti -lynching 00:07:31.660 --> 00:07:34.060 bill and found a loophole with the Senate Journal. 00:07:34.220 --> 00:07:36.500 The official record of the previous day's minutes. 00:07:36.680 --> 00:07:38.740 Right. The rules say the reading of the journal 00:07:38.740 --> 00:07:41.019 can't be suspended without unanimous consent. 00:07:42.120 --> 00:07:44.920 Harrison weaponized the minutes. He refused to 00:07:44.920 --> 00:07:47.079 grant consent and just endlessly discussed the 00:07:47.079 --> 00:07:48.660 journal. And because it was within the rules, 00:07:48.819 --> 00:07:51.959 he couldn't be stopped. Day after day until the 00:07:51.959 --> 00:07:54.519 bill's sponsors gave up and withdrew the legislation. 00:07:54.920 --> 00:07:57.259 To break that kind of blockade, you need cloture. 00:07:57.519 --> 00:07:59.720 That's the mechanism to force an end to debate. 00:07:59.879 --> 00:08:02.079 And that's not easy to get. Not at all. Since 00:08:02.079 --> 00:08:06.220 1975, invoking cloture requires a three -fifths 00:08:06.220 --> 00:08:09.399 supermajority of the entire Senate. That's 60 00:08:09.399 --> 00:08:12.269 votes. And as the source notes, there have only 00:08:12.269 --> 00:08:14.149 been three filibuster -proof majorities since 00:08:14.149 --> 00:08:17.750 1975, so you almost always need the other party 00:08:17.750 --> 00:08:19.829 to help shut down the debate. But even if you 00:08:19.829 --> 00:08:22.730 get to 60 votes, the debate doesn't end immediately. 00:08:23.250 --> 00:08:26.399 The rules say once cloture is invoked, they still 00:08:26.399 --> 00:08:28.819 get up to 30 additional hours of debate. The 00:08:28.819 --> 00:08:31.279 emergency stop button still takes 30 hours to 00:08:31.279 --> 00:08:33.659 slow the train down. Exactly. Now, the floor 00:08:33.659 --> 00:08:36.299 is where the drama happens, but the real granular 00:08:36.299 --> 00:08:39.080 work happens in the committees, the little legislatures. 00:08:39.220 --> 00:08:43.259 Right. 16 standing committees, four select, four 00:08:43.259 --> 00:08:46.019 joint. If we connect this to the bigger picture. 00:08:46.320 --> 00:08:48.580 Yeah, their gatekeeping authority is massive. 00:08:48.840 --> 00:08:51.460 They handle specific jurisdictions like foreign 00:08:51.460 --> 00:08:54.629 relations or armed services. When a bill is introduced, 00:08:54.850 --> 00:08:57.029 it goes to the committee first, and they hold 00:08:57.029 --> 00:08:59.570 all the cards. They really do. They can hold 00:08:59.570 --> 00:09:02.649 public hearings, conduct line -by -line markups, 00:09:02.730 --> 00:09:05.610 or consolidate multiple bills into one clean 00:09:05.610 --> 00:09:08.389 bill. Or they can just ignore it entirely. Which 00:09:08.389 --> 00:09:11.169 is how most legislation dies. Placed in a drawer 00:09:11.169 --> 00:09:14.529 and ignored. If a committee ignores a bill, it 00:09:14.529 --> 00:09:16.990 effectively has no path forward. And the seating 00:09:16.990 --> 00:09:18.629 on these committees is a strict mathematical 00:09:18.629 --> 00:09:21.789 translation. If your party controls 55 percent 00:09:21.789 --> 00:09:24.210 of the Senate, you get roughly 55 percent of 00:09:24.210 --> 00:09:25.710 the seats on the Foreign Relations Committee. 00:09:25.950 --> 00:09:27.889 Usually all this committee work and floor debate 00:09:27.889 --> 00:09:30.409 is public record. But there is a dramatic exception 00:09:30.409 --> 00:09:33.200 in the rules to close session. This is wild. 00:09:33.320 --> 00:09:36.379 Imagine the heavy chamber doors locking. The 00:09:36.379 --> 00:09:39.320 public gallery is completely cleared out. Everyone 00:09:39.320 --> 00:09:42.419 not sworn to secrecy is kicked out. And the Senate 00:09:42.419 --> 00:09:44.700 goes completely dark. It sounds like a movie, 00:09:44.799 --> 00:09:48.200 but it's real procedure. Any single senator can 00:09:48.200 --> 00:09:51.559 trigger a closed session if just one other senator 00:09:51.559 --> 00:09:54.840 seconds the motion. Two people can clear the 00:09:54.840 --> 00:09:56.639 room. And they use it for sensitive subjects, 00:09:56.840 --> 00:09:58.460 right? Yeah, national security intelligence, 00:09:58.779 --> 00:10:01.480 private presidential communications, or impeachment 00:10:01.480 --> 00:10:04.240 deliberations. Once they finally finish debating, 00:10:04.440 --> 00:10:07.039 whether in secret or public, they have to vote. 00:10:07.120 --> 00:10:09.480 Usually it's a simple voice vote, aye or no. 00:10:09.879 --> 00:10:12.580 The presiding officer just judges the volume. 00:10:12.940 --> 00:10:15.700 But any senator can demand a recorded vote if 00:10:15.700 --> 00:10:18.240 one -fifth of the members present second the 00:10:18.240 --> 00:10:20.620 request. Which they usually do out of professional 00:10:20.620 --> 00:10:24.220 courtesy. Right. The clerk calls the roll alphabetically. 00:10:24.840 --> 00:10:27.440 And the rules say this vote must stay open for 00:10:27.440 --> 00:10:30.200 at least 15 minutes. Again, giving senators time 00:10:30.200 --> 00:10:32.220 to run from their offices to the floor. And if 00:10:32.220 --> 00:10:34.120 there's a tie, the vice president breaks it. 00:10:34.600 --> 00:10:37.419 But if the VP isn't there, a tie is an automatic 00:10:37.419 --> 00:10:40.000 negative. The motion fails. So what does this 00:10:40.000 --> 00:10:42.580 all mean? Getting a bill through committee, surviving 00:10:42.580 --> 00:10:45.259 the floor, overcoming a 60 -vote cloture threshold, 00:10:45.480 --> 00:10:48.620 passing anything is a monumental climb. The system 00:10:48.620 --> 00:10:51.389 is built to prevent rapid change. But there is 00:10:51.389 --> 00:10:54.490 a massive exception to bypass the filibuster. 00:10:54.809 --> 00:10:57.669 Reconciliation. Right. Created by the Congressional 00:10:57.669 --> 00:11:01.090 Budget Act of 1974. Because Congress felt they 00:11:01.090 --> 00:11:04.149 were losing control of the budget process. Reconciliation 00:11:04.149 --> 00:11:07.929 is a fast track engine and its superpower is 00:11:07.929 --> 00:11:10.730 that it completely prohibits filibusters. Debate 00:11:10.730 --> 00:11:13.350 is strictly capped at exactly 20 hours. Once 00:11:13.350 --> 00:11:16.009 those 20 hours are up, a simple majority is all 00:11:16.009 --> 00:11:19.440 you need. 51 votes. But because it's so powerful, 00:11:19.580 --> 00:11:22.179 the guardrails are incredibly tight. It only 00:11:22.179 --> 00:11:24.679 applies to spending, revenues and the debt limit. 00:11:24.799 --> 00:11:27.440 Strictly financial. Yes. Yes. And they can technically 00:11:27.440 --> 00:11:30.179 pass up to three a year, one for each of those 00:11:30.179 --> 00:11:32.399 categories. But if they combine them, they forfeit 00:11:32.399 --> 00:11:34.299 the others. So practically, it's usually just 00:11:34.299 --> 00:11:37.000 one reconciliation bill a year. And then in 1985, 00:11:37.320 --> 00:11:40.460 they added the Byrd rule named after Senator 00:11:40.460 --> 00:11:43.480 Robert Byrd. Crucial addition. It allows any 00:11:43.480 --> 00:11:45.879 senator to block provisions that are extraneous 00:11:45.879 --> 00:11:48.600 to the budget. You can't sneak a major, unrelated 00:11:48.600 --> 00:11:51.039 policy change into a budget bill just to dodge 00:11:51.039 --> 00:11:53.460 the filibuster. Plus, it can't be used for discretionary 00:11:53.460 --> 00:11:55.919 spending or to alter Social Security. But it's 00:11:55.919 --> 00:11:58.120 not just legislation that gets delayed. It's 00:11:58.120 --> 00:12:01.679 people, too. The president's nominees, governed 00:12:01.679 --> 00:12:05.659 by Rule XEA. The advice and consent power. Nominees 00:12:05.659 --> 00:12:08.860 go to committee first, just like bills. The committee 00:12:08.860 --> 00:12:11.519 can hold hearings, make recommendations, or fail 00:12:11.519 --> 00:12:14.139 to act. Surprisingly, the source points out that 00:12:14.139 --> 00:12:17.100 historically, about half of civilian appointees 00:12:17.100 --> 00:12:19.940 are approved without even having a hearing. They 00:12:19.940 --> 00:12:22.679 just review the file and approve it. But if Senate 00:12:22.679 --> 00:12:25.519 leadership opposes a nominee, they can delay 00:12:25.519 --> 00:12:28.840 scheduling the final vote indefinitely. Which 00:12:28.840 --> 00:12:32.379 leads to an incredible loophole. Rule X61 says 00:12:32.379 --> 00:12:34.159 if the Senate goes into recess for more than 00:12:34.159 --> 00:12:36.759 30 days, unapproved nominations are officially 00:12:36.759 --> 00:12:38.539 returned to the president. Like an expiration 00:12:38.539 --> 00:12:40.779 date on the paperwork. Exactly. The president 00:12:40.779 --> 00:12:42.440 would have to start all over again. So how does 00:12:42.440 --> 00:12:44.259 the Senate avoid that? They use a procedural 00:12:44.259 --> 00:12:46.840 trick. They simply refuse to go into a recess 00:12:46.840 --> 00:12:49.940 longer than 30 days. Instead, they hold pro forma 00:12:49.940 --> 00:12:52.940 sessions. I love this part. Every few days during 00:12:52.940 --> 00:12:55.440 a break, one designated senator walks into an 00:12:55.440 --> 00:12:58.559 LT chamber, gavels the Senate into session, and 00:12:58.559 --> 00:13:02.110 seconds later... It resets the 30 -day clock, 00:13:02.350 --> 00:13:05.450 the recess is technically interrupted, and all 00:13:05.450 --> 00:13:07.889 the pending nominations stay active. They are 00:13:07.889 --> 00:13:09.990 technically at work so the paperwork doesn't 00:13:09.990 --> 00:13:12.330 expire. It's amazing. Every procedure we've talked 00:13:12.330 --> 00:13:15.049 about, the quorum call, cloture, reconciliation 00:13:15.049 --> 00:13:17.850 pro forma sessions, it's never just procedure. 00:13:18.070 --> 00:13:20.549 It is strategy. Completely calculated strategy. 00:13:20.870 --> 00:13:22.590 And the next time you hear these terms on the 00:13:22.590 --> 00:13:24.509 news, you'll know exactly what kind of invisible 00:13:24.509 --> 00:13:26.950 levers are being pulled behind the scenes. It 00:13:26.950 --> 00:13:28.789 does leave us with a lingering thought, though. 00:13:29.159 --> 00:13:31.820 Since Article 1, Section 5 gives the Senate the 00:13:31.820 --> 00:13:34.580 sole power to determine its own rules, these 00:13:34.580 --> 00:13:37.419 44 rules aren't actually permanent laws. Right. 00:13:37.500 --> 00:13:40.120 They are just agreements, polite agreements holding 00:13:40.120 --> 00:13:42.580 the system together. What would happen to the 00:13:42.580 --> 00:13:44.940 stability of the entire American legislative 00:13:44.940 --> 00:13:48.440 system if a temporary majority simply decided 00:13:48.440 --> 00:13:52.159 to wipe the slate clean and rewrite all 44 rules 00:13:52.159 --> 00:13:54.940 overnight? The Senate would transform from a 00:13:54.940 --> 00:13:57.919 slow, deliberative body into an absolute winner 00:13:57.919 --> 00:14:00.519 -takes -all battlefield. That is a fascinating 00:14:00.519 --> 00:14:04.259 and slightly terrifying thing to ponder and definitely 00:14:04.259 --> 00:14:06.700 something to keep an eye on. Thank you so much 00:14:06.700 --> 00:14:09.220 for joining us on this deep dive. We hope it 00:14:09.220 --> 00:14:11.200 gave you a new lens for the next time you see 00:14:11.200 --> 00:14:13.440 the political machinery turning. Keep questioning 00:14:13.440 --> 00:14:15.659 how the world around you actually works. We'll 00:14:15.659 --> 00:14:16.580 catch you on the next one.