WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.240 Welcome to today's Depth Dive. If you have ever 00:00:03.240 --> 00:00:05.519 watched the evening news and felt completely 00:00:05.519 --> 00:00:08.419 lost when reporters start throwing around terms 00:00:08.419 --> 00:00:11.140 like, you know, cloture votes or recess appointments. 00:00:11.619 --> 00:00:13.660 Oh, or the filibuster. Right, the filibuster. 00:00:13.800 --> 00:00:15.919 If that sounds like a foreign language to you, 00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:19.280 you are in exactly the right place. Today, we 00:00:19.280 --> 00:00:22.260 have a really fascinating stack of source material. 00:00:22.620 --> 00:00:25.660 We are looking at a comprehensive breakdown drawn 00:00:25.660 --> 00:00:28.440 directly from the Wikipedia article on the United 00:00:28.440 --> 00:00:30.699 States Senate. It's a goldmine of information, 00:00:31.000 --> 00:00:33.200 honestly. It really is. And our mission today 00:00:33.200 --> 00:00:36.780 is to decode the rules, the history, and the 00:00:36.780 --> 00:00:39.259 intricacies of the upper house of Congress so 00:00:39.259 --> 00:00:41.659 you can truly understand the engine of American 00:00:41.659 --> 00:00:43.460 legislation. Yeah, because it affects everything. 00:00:43.880 --> 00:00:46.679 Exactly. So whether you are prepping for a civics 00:00:46.679 --> 00:00:48.659 debate, trying to make sense of the daily political 00:00:48.659 --> 00:00:51.479 headlines, or you just appreciate understanding 00:00:51.479 --> 00:00:54.140 the hidden mechanics of power, this deep dive 00:00:54.140 --> 00:00:56.100 is going to cut through the political noise. 00:00:56.399 --> 00:00:59.039 We are going to explain how the Senate actually 00:00:59.039 --> 00:01:01.320 functions. And it functions in some pretty surprising 00:01:01.320 --> 00:01:04.260 ways. It really does. Okay, let's unpack this. 00:01:04.540 --> 00:01:07.469 Where does the Senate even come from? Well, the 00:01:07.469 --> 00:01:09.909 very name of the institution gives us a massive 00:01:09.909 --> 00:01:12.549 clue about its original design. The word Senate 00:01:12.549 --> 00:01:15.810 comes from the Latin word senatus. Senatus? Right, 00:01:15.909 --> 00:01:18.150 which is derived from senax. And senax literally 00:01:18.150 --> 00:01:22.310 translates to old man. An old man? Yeah, or council 00:01:22.310 --> 00:01:24.930 of elders. The founders of the United States 00:01:24.930 --> 00:01:27.170 were looking directly at the ancient Roman Senate 00:01:27.170 --> 00:01:30.170 as their architectural blueprint here. They deliberately 00:01:30.170 --> 00:01:33.810 wanted an institution that would act as a steady... 00:01:34.040 --> 00:01:37.120 experienced in perhaps slightly older counterweight 00:01:37.120 --> 00:01:40.180 to the more populist, fast moving House of Representatives. 00:01:40.420 --> 00:01:42.599 The fascinating part about the creation of this 00:01:42.599 --> 00:01:45.200 this Council of Elders is that the United States 00:01:45.200 --> 00:01:47.299 almost fell apart before it even started because 00:01:47.299 --> 00:01:50.159 of it. Oh, completely. Like in 1787, during the 00:01:50.159 --> 00:01:52.099 drafting of the Constitution, the creation of 00:01:52.099 --> 00:01:55.239 the Senate was incredibly contentious. The delegates 00:01:55.239 --> 00:01:57.459 actually debated how to award representation 00:01:57.459 --> 00:02:00.459 in the Senate more than any other single part 00:02:00.459 --> 00:02:02.980 of the Constitution. And to understand why you 00:02:02.980 --> 00:02:04.340 really. have to look at the system they were 00:02:04.340 --> 00:02:06.319 trying to replace. The Articles of Confederation. 00:02:06.579 --> 00:02:10.379 Exactly. Under that old system, which was essentially 00:02:10.379 --> 00:02:12.719 just a loose alliance of independent states, 00:02:12.919 --> 00:02:16.460 every state had an equal vote. Small states were 00:02:16.460 --> 00:02:18.680 absolutely terrified of giving up that equal 00:02:18.680 --> 00:02:21.439 footing to a new population -based system. Because 00:02:21.439 --> 00:02:23.900 larger states would just steamroll them. Precisely. 00:02:24.000 --> 00:02:26.960 They were so terrified, in fact, that the small 00:02:26.960 --> 00:02:30.689 states essentially drew a line in the sand. They 00:02:30.689 --> 00:02:33.189 threatened to secede from the convention entirely 00:02:33.189 --> 00:02:36.210 if they didn't get their way. Which is wild to 00:02:36.210 --> 00:02:38.830 think about. It is. Think about the sheer audacity 00:02:38.830 --> 00:02:41.129 of that moment. They were willing to let the 00:02:41.129 --> 00:02:43.469 entire American experiment die right there in 00:02:43.469 --> 00:02:46.310 Philadelphia over how this specific room would 00:02:46.310 --> 00:02:48.349 be organized. But they found a way through. They 00:02:48.349 --> 00:02:51.120 did. The dispute was ultimately settled by what 00:02:51.120 --> 00:02:53.719 became known as the Connecticut Compromise. It 00:02:53.719 --> 00:02:55.979 dictated that every single state, regardless 00:02:55.979 --> 00:02:58.180 of its population size, would be represented 00:02:58.180 --> 00:03:00.719 by exactly two senators. And that wasn't exactly 00:03:00.719 --> 00:03:03.000 a landslide victory, was it? Not at all. That 00:03:03.000 --> 00:03:05.360 monumental decision barely passed. It was a razor 00:03:05.360 --> 00:03:08.520 -thin vote. Five to four. Five to four. Wow. 00:03:09.159 --> 00:03:11.580 And to ensure this new chamber maintained that 00:03:11.580 --> 00:03:14.240 steady, experienced vibe the founders were aiming 00:03:14.240 --> 00:03:17.259 for, they hardwired some strict requirements 00:03:17.259 --> 00:03:19.800 right into the Constitution. Right, the qualifications. 00:03:19.879 --> 00:03:22.699 Yeah. To be a senator, you have to be at least 00:03:22.699 --> 00:03:25.539 30 years old, a citizen for at least nine years, 00:03:25.759 --> 00:03:28.479 and an inhabitant of the state you want to represent. 00:03:29.080 --> 00:03:31.819 The source material quotes James Madison from 00:03:31.819 --> 00:03:34.400 Federalist Number 62 explaining the philosophy 00:03:34.400 --> 00:03:37.020 behind this. What did he say? He argued that 00:03:37.020 --> 00:03:39.759 the Senate requires a, quote, greater extent 00:03:39.759 --> 00:03:42.419 of information and stability of character. He 00:03:42.419 --> 00:03:44.860 basically envisioned a room full of people who 00:03:44.860 --> 00:03:47.500 had been around the block, you know, people who 00:03:47.500 --> 00:03:49.599 wouldn't be swayed by the passing passions of 00:03:49.599 --> 00:03:52.039 the day. What's really fascinating here is that. 00:03:52.509 --> 00:03:55.270 Despite those very clear, absolute constitutional 00:03:55.270 --> 00:03:58.050 rules, the early Senate had a surprising habit 00:03:58.050 --> 00:04:00.270 of just looking the other way. Rule breakers, 00:04:00.270 --> 00:04:02.550 right from the start. Pretty much. In the early 00:04:02.550 --> 00:04:04.569 days of the Republic, the Senate didn't strictly 00:04:04.569 --> 00:04:07.610 verify the birth dates of its members. Four early 00:04:07.610 --> 00:04:10.030 senators actually failed to meet that 30 -year 00:04:10.030 --> 00:04:12.469 -old age requirement, but were sworn in and seated 00:04:12.469 --> 00:04:14.710 anyway. I think the text mentioned Henry Clay, 00:04:14.849 --> 00:04:16.670 right? Yes. That's the most famous example from 00:04:16.670 --> 00:04:19.189 the source. Henry Clay took the oath of office 00:04:19.189 --> 00:04:22.800 in 1806 at the age of 29. Now, the text notes 00:04:22.800 --> 00:04:25.019 that modern senators haven't been able to slide 00:04:25.019 --> 00:04:28.540 by the rules quite like Henry Clay did. But there 00:04:28.540 --> 00:04:31.319 are still some incredible examples of politicians 00:04:31.319 --> 00:04:35.139 threading the needle. Like who? Well, in 1934, 00:04:35.339 --> 00:04:38.680 Rush D. Holt Sr. was elected at 29, and he literally 00:04:38.680 --> 00:04:41.000 had to wait around until his birthday the following 00:04:41.000 --> 00:04:43.500 June just to take the oath of office. Oh, wow. 00:04:43.620 --> 00:04:46.519 Yeah. And then there's Joe Biden. He was elected 00:04:46.519 --> 00:04:49.639 to the Senate in 1972, also at the age of 29. 00:04:50.189 --> 00:04:53.110 But the calendar was on his side. He turned 30 00:04:53.110 --> 00:04:56.490 just 13 days after the election. So he made the 00:04:56.490 --> 00:04:59.069 cut just in time. Exactly. He was legally old 00:04:59.069 --> 00:05:00.850 enough by the time the swearing -in ceremony 00:05:00.850 --> 00:05:03.230 rolled around in January. Age and qualifications 00:05:03.230 --> 00:05:05.410 are one thing. But if we really want to understand 00:05:05.410 --> 00:05:07.730 the evolution of the Senate, we have to look 00:05:07.730 --> 00:05:09.430 at how these people actually get their jobs. 00:05:09.589 --> 00:05:12.009 Right. Because that changed drastically. It did. 00:05:12.350 --> 00:05:15.149 Originally, you, the average citizen listening 00:05:15.149 --> 00:05:18.069 to this, would have had absolutely no say in 00:05:18.069 --> 00:05:20.310 who represented your state in the Senate. The 00:05:20.310 --> 00:05:23.110 Constitution originally gave that power exclusively 00:05:23.110 --> 00:05:25.930 to state legislatures. So the people didn't vote 00:05:25.930 --> 00:05:28.930 for them at all? Nope. It wasn't until 1913, 00:05:28.990 --> 00:05:31.449 with the ratification of the 17th Amendment, 00:05:31.649 --> 00:05:34.290 that the power to elect senators was finally 00:05:34.290 --> 00:05:36.339 handed over to the popular vote. And the source 00:05:36.339 --> 00:05:38.500 provides some really crucial context for why 00:05:38.500 --> 00:05:40.920 that monumental shift happened. It wasn't just 00:05:40.920 --> 00:05:43.180 the sudden burst of democratic idealism. It was 00:05:43.180 --> 00:05:45.279 out of necessity. Yeah, it was a response to 00:05:45.279 --> 00:05:48.180 extreme dysfunction. State legislatures were 00:05:48.180 --> 00:05:51.100 plagued by bribery and intimidation when it came 00:05:51.100 --> 00:05:53.519 to picking senators. It was a mess. A total mess. 00:05:53.759 --> 00:05:56.279 Sometimes the state legislatures would become 00:05:56.279 --> 00:05:58.600 so completely deadlocked that they couldn't agree 00:05:58.600 --> 00:06:01.480 on a candidate at all, leaving Senate seats completely 00:06:01.480 --> 00:06:05.139 vacant for months or even years. The 17th Amendment 00:06:05.199 --> 00:06:07.399 fundamentally shifted the accountability of the 00:06:07.399 --> 00:06:10.319 Senate. Suddenly, this body designed for elite, 00:06:10.439 --> 00:06:13.199 insulated statesmen had to start running popular 00:06:13.199 --> 00:06:15.779 political campaigns and answering directly to 00:06:15.779 --> 00:06:18.779 the public. Yet even with that massive shift 00:06:18.779 --> 00:06:21.800 in who elects them, the immense powers granted 00:06:21.800 --> 00:06:24.519 to the Senate by the Constitution remained entirely 00:06:24.519 --> 00:06:27.740 intact. They didn't lose any authority. Not a 00:06:27.740 --> 00:06:30.740 bit. The Senate holds a very specific set of 00:06:30.740 --> 00:06:33.600 exclusive tools that makes it arguably the most 00:06:33.600 --> 00:06:36.459 powerful upper house of any legislative body 00:06:36.459 --> 00:06:38.879 in the world. Let's transition into how those 00:06:38.879 --> 00:06:41.220 tools actually work, starting with the power 00:06:41.220 --> 00:06:44.300 of the purse. By law, the Constitution states 00:06:44.300 --> 00:06:47.600 that all revenue bills, so bills that raise taxes, 00:06:47.720 --> 00:06:49.759 must originate in the House of Representatives. 00:06:50.060 --> 00:06:52.879 On paper, that sounds like a huge restriction 00:06:52.879 --> 00:06:55.139 on the Senate, but the Senate found a pretty 00:06:55.139 --> 00:06:57.790 massive loophole. Definitely did. They cannot 00:06:57.790 --> 00:07:00.629 start a tax bill, but they have extremely broad 00:07:00.629 --> 00:07:02.750 authority to amend one once it comes over from 00:07:02.750 --> 00:07:04.750 the House. How broad are we talking? The source 00:07:04.750 --> 00:07:06.990 cites President Woodrow Wilson, who detailed 00:07:06.990 --> 00:07:09.889 exactly how the Senate operates here. He pointed 00:07:09.889 --> 00:07:11.910 out that the Senate can take a general appropriation 00:07:11.910 --> 00:07:14.230 bill, which is basically the massive piece of 00:07:14.230 --> 00:07:16.129 legislation that keeps the government's lights 00:07:16.129 --> 00:07:18.769 on and funds all its agencies. And they can, 00:07:18.910 --> 00:07:22.550 quote, tack to them entirely new features. Entirely 00:07:22.550 --> 00:07:25.850 new features. Yeah. The Senate can alter the 00:07:25.850 --> 00:07:29.189 amounts. change the objects of expenditure and 00:07:29.189 --> 00:07:31.730 essentially turn the legislation into a measure 00:07:31.730 --> 00:07:35.050 of an almost totally new character. The House 00:07:35.050 --> 00:07:37.250 might draft the initial document, but the Senate 00:07:37.250 --> 00:07:39.970 has the power to completely rewrite it. It's 00:07:39.970 --> 00:07:42.110 the legislative equivalent of saying, sure, you 00:07:42.110 --> 00:07:43.949 can pick the restaurant, but I'm ordering the 00:07:43.949 --> 00:07:46.230 food for both of us and I'm picking up the check. 00:07:46.449 --> 00:07:48.230 That is a great way to put it. It completely 00:07:48.230 --> 00:07:51.470 flips the power dynamic. Another massive power 00:07:51.470 --> 00:07:55.699 detailed in the text is advice and consent. The 00:07:55.699 --> 00:07:58.220 president cannot simply hire whoever they want 00:07:58.220 --> 00:08:00.540 for top government jobs. The Senate has to approve 00:08:00.540 --> 00:08:03.879 them. But the text points out a really surprising 00:08:03.879 --> 00:08:06.819 historical reality here. Which is? It's actually 00:08:06.819 --> 00:08:09.439 incredibly rare for the Senate to outright reject 00:08:09.439 --> 00:08:12.180 a cabinet nominee on the floor. In the entire 00:08:12.180 --> 00:08:14.300 history of the United States, that has only happened 00:08:14.300 --> 00:08:17.019 nine times. Only nine times. That's really low. 00:08:17.579 --> 00:08:20.120 But the mechanics behind that low number are 00:08:20.120 --> 00:08:22.680 telling. Usually, if a nominee doesn't have the 00:08:22.680 --> 00:08:25.120 required votes, the relevant committee just won't 00:08:25.120 --> 00:08:27.740 act on the nomination. They just bury it. Exactly. 00:08:27.939 --> 00:08:30.459 Or the president will see the writing on the 00:08:30.459 --> 00:08:33.620 wall and withdraw the name to save face before 00:08:33.620 --> 00:08:36.759 a humiliating public vote. However, the text 00:08:36.759 --> 00:08:39.320 also outlines a workaround that presidents use 00:08:39.320 --> 00:08:42.019 to bypass the Senate temporarily. The recess 00:08:42.019 --> 00:08:44.480 appointment. Right. If the Senate is out of session, 00:08:44.700 --> 00:08:46.700 the president can make a temporary appointment 00:08:46.700 --> 00:08:49.639 without their consent. That appointment only 00:08:49.639 --> 00:08:51.539 lasts until the end of the next congressional 00:08:51.539 --> 00:08:54.559 session. But presidents utilize this tool frequently 00:08:54.559 --> 00:08:58.179 to force through controversial nominees who wouldn't 00:08:58.179 --> 00:09:01.320 survive a floor vote. The text also brings up 00:09:01.320 --> 00:09:04.059 a critical Supreme Court case that clarified 00:09:04.059 --> 00:09:07.500 this power dynamic. Myers v. United States. Oh, 00:09:07.539 --> 00:09:09.840 that's an important one. It is. The Supreme Court 00:09:09.840 --> 00:09:12.120 essentially ruled that while the Senate's advice 00:09:12.120 --> 00:09:15.059 and consent are absolutely required to appoint 00:09:15.059 --> 00:09:17.539 certain executive officials, the president does 00:09:17.539 --> 00:09:19.559 not need the Senate's permission to remove them. 00:09:19.700 --> 00:09:22.080 So the Senate holds massive power over who gets 00:09:22.080 --> 00:09:23.679 hired into the government. But the president 00:09:23.679 --> 00:09:25.759 holds the ultimate trump card over who gets fired. 00:09:25.899 --> 00:09:28.860 Exactly. And that brings us to the ultimate constitutional 00:09:28.860 --> 00:09:31.899 check and balance. Impeachment. The big one. 00:09:32.299 --> 00:09:35.220 Yes. The House of Representatives holds the sole 00:09:35.220 --> 00:09:37.899 power to impeach, which is basically just bringing 00:09:37.899 --> 00:09:40.779 the formal charges. But the Senate actually holds 00:09:40.779 --> 00:09:43.460 a trial and determines guilt. And the numbers 00:09:43.460 --> 00:09:46.399 here are pretty striking. Very. In U .S. history, 00:09:46.559 --> 00:09:49.059 the House has impeached 16 federal officials. 00:09:49.600 --> 00:09:52.360 Out of those 16, the Senate has only convicted 00:09:52.360 --> 00:09:54.779 seven of them. And the numbers become even more 00:09:54.779 --> 00:09:56.860 stark when you look at presidential impeachments. 00:09:57.220 --> 00:09:59.919 Only three presidents have ever been impeached 00:09:59.919 --> 00:10:02.720 by the House. Andrew Johnson, Bill Clinton and 00:10:02.720 --> 00:10:05.740 Donald Trump, who was impeached twice. Yet there 00:10:05.740 --> 00:10:08.000 have been zero presidential convictions in the 00:10:08.000 --> 00:10:11.519 Senate. Zero. Well, a conviction requires a two 00:10:11.519 --> 00:10:14.000 -thirds majority of the senators present. That 00:10:14.000 --> 00:10:16.440 is an intentionally high bar to clear. They have 00:10:16.440 --> 00:10:18.259 never hit that threshold to remove a president. 00:10:18.340 --> 00:10:20.320 Oh, it got close once, didn't it? Very close. 00:10:20.419 --> 00:10:23.539 The text notes that in 1868, Andrew Johnson survived 00:10:23.539 --> 00:10:26.539 conviction by just one single vote. One vote. 00:10:26.679 --> 00:10:29.159 One vote. It really puts into perspective how 00:10:29.159 --> 00:10:31.279 monumental every single seat in that chamber 00:10:31.279 --> 00:10:34.639 is. A single senator's vote literally altered 00:10:34.639 --> 00:10:37.009 the trajectory of the American presidency. Here's 00:10:37.009 --> 00:10:38.990 where it gets really interesting. Let's look 00:10:38.990 --> 00:10:40.990 at the physical room where all this history happens. 00:10:41.549 --> 00:10:44.370 The Senate chamber itself is steeped in tradition. 00:10:44.669 --> 00:10:48.470 There are exactly 100 desks in there arranged 00:10:48.470 --> 00:10:51.309 in a semicircle facing the presiding officer. 00:10:51.529 --> 00:10:53.169 But these aren't just standard issue government 00:10:53.169 --> 00:10:56.669 furniture. Not at all. 48 of those desks date 00:10:56.669 --> 00:11:00.149 all the way back to 1819. They were brought in 00:11:00.149 --> 00:11:02.370 after the original contents of the chamber were 00:11:02.370 --> 00:11:04.610 completely destroyed when the British burned 00:11:04.610 --> 00:11:08.370 Washington during the War of 1812. As new states 00:11:08.370 --> 00:11:11.090 entered the Union over the decades, new desks 00:11:11.090 --> 00:11:13.009 of similar design were commissioned and added 00:11:13.009 --> 00:11:15.529 to the room. There is a remarkably humanizing 00:11:15.529 --> 00:11:18.250 tradition associated with those desks, something 00:11:18.250 --> 00:11:20.649 that grounds a body that often feels so distant 00:11:20.649 --> 00:11:23.409 and formal. I love this part. The source material 00:11:23.409 --> 00:11:26.190 details a tradition where every senator who uses 00:11:26.190 --> 00:11:29.889 a desk takes a pen and carves their name into 00:11:29.889 --> 00:11:32.149 the inside of the desk's drawer. That's amazing. 00:11:32.509 --> 00:11:35.049 It creates a hidden physical lineage of power 00:11:35.049 --> 00:11:37.570 within the furniture itself. It's like high school 00:11:37.570 --> 00:11:39.789 detention, but for the most powerful politicians 00:11:39.789 --> 00:11:42.309 in the country. Yeah, pretty much. But of course, 00:11:42.309 --> 00:11:44.909 you cannot discuss the Senate's traditions and 00:11:44.909 --> 00:11:48.669 rules without dissecting the most famous or infamous 00:11:48.669 --> 00:11:51.950 procedure of all, the filibuster. Right. You 00:11:51.950 --> 00:11:54.250 hear about the filibuster constantly in the news, 00:11:54.350 --> 00:11:57.009 usually when legislation is stalled. What blew 00:11:57.009 --> 00:11:59.090 my mind in the source text is that the filibuster 00:11:59.090 --> 00:12:01.769 is not in the original Constitution. No, it was 00:12:01.769 --> 00:12:04.289 an entirely accidental creation. How does that 00:12:04.289 --> 00:12:07.909 happen? In 1805, Vice President Aaron Burr... 00:12:08.220 --> 00:12:10.059 who was presiding over the Senate at the time, 00:12:10.100 --> 00:12:12.820 suggested that they clean up their rulebook and 00:12:12.820 --> 00:12:15.279 get rid of some procedural tools that were redundant 00:12:15.279 --> 00:12:17.620 or rarely used. Just a little procedural housekeeping. 00:12:17.940 --> 00:12:20.600 Exactly. One of the rules they eliminated was 00:12:20.600 --> 00:12:22.639 a mechanism known as the previous question motion, 00:12:22.840 --> 00:12:25.539 which was essentially a way to cut off debate 00:12:25.539 --> 00:12:28.480 and force a vote. They didn't realize it at the 00:12:28.480 --> 00:12:31.220 time, but by removing that specific rule, they 00:12:31.220 --> 00:12:33.259 effectively made it possible for debate on the 00:12:33.259 --> 00:12:35.759 Senate floor to go on forever. And it took a 00:12:35.759 --> 00:12:38.100 few decades for politicians to fully realize 00:12:38.100 --> 00:12:41.799 how to weaponize that procedural mistake. The 00:12:41.799 --> 00:12:45.379 text points to 1841, when Senator John Calhoun 00:12:45.379 --> 00:12:47.559 rallied a group of Southern senators to take 00:12:47.559 --> 00:12:49.940 the floor and talk for days, one after another, 00:12:50.179 --> 00:12:53.639 specifically to block a national bank bill. And 00:12:53.639 --> 00:12:56.779 thus, the modern filibuster was born. Since then, 00:12:56.879 --> 00:12:59.240 it has led to some staggering endurance records, 00:12:59.460 --> 00:13:01.480 because historically, if a senator wanted to 00:13:01.480 --> 00:13:04.139 hold the floor and delay a bill, they physically 00:13:04.169 --> 00:13:05.990 physically had to keep talking. The physical 00:13:05.990 --> 00:13:09.169 toll of the talking filibuster is extreme. The 00:13:09.169 --> 00:13:11.490 longest filibuster speech in Senate history aimed 00:13:11.490 --> 00:13:14.049 at blocking a specific bill was delivered by 00:13:14.049 --> 00:13:17.919 Strom Thurmond in 1957. He stood and spoke for 00:13:17.919 --> 00:13:20.620 over 24 hours in a failed attempt to block the 00:13:20.620 --> 00:13:22.740 passage of the Civil Rights Act. The source also 00:13:22.740 --> 00:13:24.879 notes an even longer individual speech, though 00:13:24.879 --> 00:13:26.700 it technically wasn't a filibuster because there 00:13:26.700 --> 00:13:28.659 wasn't a specific piece of legislation being 00:13:28.659 --> 00:13:30.600 blocked at that moment. Right. The 2025 one. 00:13:30.740 --> 00:13:33.740 Yes. In 2025, Senator Cory Booker spoke for 25 00:13:33.740 --> 00:13:35.960 hours and five minutes to address actions of 00:13:35.960 --> 00:13:38.299 the Trump administration. Speaking continuously 00:13:38.299 --> 00:13:40.720 for 25 hours is a feat of physical endurance 00:13:40.720 --> 00:13:43.379 as much as a political strategy. Today, however, 00:13:43.580 --> 00:13:46.330 senators rarely do the grueling talk. blocking 00:13:46.330 --> 00:13:49.250 filibuster. Instead, they use a procedural tool 00:13:49.250 --> 00:13:52.169 called cloture. And this is where a significant 00:13:52.169 --> 00:13:54.429 amount of public confusion comes in regarding 00:13:54.429 --> 00:13:57.019 how the Senate passes laws. Let's clear up that 00:13:57.019 --> 00:13:58.899 math for you right now, because understanding 00:13:58.899 --> 00:14:01.559 cloture is the key to understanding modern American 00:14:01.559 --> 00:14:04.820 politics. To actually pass a normal bill in the 00:14:04.820 --> 00:14:07.580 Senate, you only need a simple majority, usually 00:14:07.580 --> 00:14:11.559 51 votes. Right. Fifty one out of 100. But if 00:14:11.559 --> 00:14:13.759 a minority of senators threatens to filibuster 00:14:13.759 --> 00:14:17.240 a bill, the Senate has to invoke cloture to formally 00:14:17.240 --> 00:14:19.659 end the debate before they can vote on the bill 00:14:19.659 --> 00:14:23.039 itself. And invoking cloture requires a three 00:14:23.039 --> 00:14:26.600 fifths majority, which is. 60 votes. So it's 00:14:26.600 --> 00:14:28.580 two separate hurdles. Exactly. It's like having 00:14:28.580 --> 00:14:31.080 to get 60 people to agree to unlock the door 00:14:31.080 --> 00:14:34.259 to a room just so 51 people inside can vote on 00:14:34.259 --> 00:14:36.720 what's for dinner. That analogy perfectly captures 00:14:36.720 --> 00:14:39.320 the structural hurdle. A minority of just 41 00:14:39.320 --> 00:14:42.039 senators can effectively block almost any legislation 00:14:42.039 --> 00:14:45.000 simply by threatening a filibuster, denying the 00:14:45.000 --> 00:14:47.019 majority of the 60 votes needed to unlock the 00:14:47.019 --> 00:14:49.179 door. And people get this wrong all the time. 00:14:49.470 --> 00:14:52.070 They do. The text specifically points out that 00:14:52.070 --> 00:14:54.889 even major media outlets frequently misunderstand 00:14:54.889 --> 00:14:58.580 this math. It cites an instance where USA Today 00:14:58.580 --> 00:15:01.580 erroneously reported that a bill failed because 00:15:01.580 --> 00:15:04.639 it fell two votes short of the 60s needed to 00:15:04.639 --> 00:15:06.659 approve the measure. But the bill didn't need 00:15:06.659 --> 00:15:09.799 60 votes to pass. It only needed 51. Correct. 00:15:10.039 --> 00:15:12.820 It needed 60 votes to break the filibuster so 00:15:12.820 --> 00:15:14.799 they could take the vote to pass it. It might 00:15:14.799 --> 00:15:17.820 sound like semantics, but that 60 vote threshold 00:15:17.820 --> 00:15:20.860 fundamentally changes how power works in America, 00:15:21.059 --> 00:15:24.519 which brings us to a massive ongoing debate about 00:15:24.519 --> 00:15:26.809 the very nature. of the institution. And this 00:15:26.809 --> 00:15:29.409 is where things get really heated. They do. Now, 00:15:29.470 --> 00:15:31.269 before we get into this next segment, I need 00:15:31.269 --> 00:15:33.889 to explicitly tell you. The source material we 00:15:33.889 --> 00:15:35.649 are reading from contains politically charged 00:15:35.649 --> 00:15:37.769 arguments from both the left and the right regarding 00:15:37.769 --> 00:15:40.269 whether the Senate is fundamentally fair. We 00:15:40.269 --> 00:15:42.450 are not taking sides or endorsing these views. 00:15:42.610 --> 00:15:45.490 We are simply acting as your guides to impartially 00:15:45.490 --> 00:15:48.370 convey the arguments found in the text. So let's 00:15:48.370 --> 00:15:50.309 look at the critics first. Let's hear it. The 00:15:50.309 --> 00:15:53.320 case against the Senate structure. is that it 00:15:53.320 --> 00:15:57.120 is fundamentally undemocratic by design. Political 00:15:57.120 --> 00:15:59.659 scientists cited in the text, like Robert Dahl, 00:15:59.840 --> 00:16:03.159 Stephen Levitsky, and Daniel Ziblatt, describe 00:16:03.159 --> 00:16:05.779 the Senate's equal representation as a profound 00:16:05.779 --> 00:16:08.940 violation of democracy. They categorize it as 00:16:08.940 --> 00:16:11.179 a minoritarian institution. The mathematical 00:16:11.179 --> 00:16:13.179 disparity is really what these critics point 00:16:13.179 --> 00:16:15.559 to. Every state gets two senators, no matter 00:16:15.559 --> 00:16:18.159 how many people actually live there. According 00:16:18.159 --> 00:16:20.820 to the text, in the year 2020, California had 00:16:20.820 --> 00:16:24.100 70 times the population of Wyoming. 70 times. 00:16:24.259 --> 00:16:27.759 Yes. Yet both states have exactly two votes in 00:16:27.759 --> 00:16:30.019 the Senate. The critics argue this gives voters 00:16:30.019 --> 00:16:32.500 from small states vastly disproportionate influence 00:16:32.500 --> 00:16:35.220 over everything from federal legislation to the 00:16:35.220 --> 00:16:37.600 distribution of federal funding. And the text 00:16:37.600 --> 00:16:39.519 notes that this population disparity has grown 00:16:39.519 --> 00:16:41.500 drastically since the founding of the country. 00:16:42.160 --> 00:16:44.639 In 1790, the population ratio between the largest 00:16:44.639 --> 00:16:47.320 and smallest states was 10 to 1. And today, as 00:16:47.320 --> 00:16:50.179 we just noted, it's 70 to 1. Exactly. Add to 00:16:50.179 --> 00:16:51.919 that the fact that U .S. citizens living in the 00:16:51.919 --> 00:16:53.720 District of Columbia and in U .S. territories 00:16:53.720 --> 00:16:56.419 have zero representation in the Senate. Zero. 00:16:56.480 --> 00:16:59.000 The source data suggests that since the 1960s, 00:16:59.000 --> 00:17:01.379 this malapportionment has increasingly favored 00:17:01.379 --> 00:17:04.400 the Republican Party. One analysis in the text 00:17:04.400 --> 00:17:06.599 estimates that Democrats would need to win the 00:17:06.599 --> 00:17:09.980 national popular vote by more than 6 % just to 00:17:09.980 --> 00:17:11.880 maintain control of the chamber. But the source 00:17:11.880 --> 00:17:14.680 material also lays out a very robust defense 00:17:14.680 --> 00:17:17.559 of the Senate structure. Those defending the 00:17:17.559 --> 00:17:20.019 institution point right back to James Madison's 00:17:20.019 --> 00:17:22.220 original arguments. The tyranny of the majority. 00:17:22.480 --> 00:17:25.619 Right. Madison stated that this setup is a necessary 00:17:25.619 --> 00:17:28.099 constitutional check against the tyranny of the 00:17:28.099 --> 00:17:30.849 majority. The entire point is that the Senate 00:17:30.849 --> 00:17:33.849 prevents massive, populous states from completely 00:17:33.849 --> 00:17:36.109 drowning out the needs, cultures, and economic 00:17:36.109 --> 00:17:38.950 interests of smaller states. Scholars like Bruce 00:17:38.950 --> 00:17:41.410 Kane argue that this equal representation forces 00:17:41.410 --> 00:17:43.670 the federal government to consider diverse regional 00:17:43.670 --> 00:17:47.049 interests. It prevents legislation from solely 00:17:47.049 --> 00:17:49.750 benefiting dense coastal population centers. 00:17:49.970 --> 00:17:52.920 It forces compromise. Exactly. Because of the 00:17:52.920 --> 00:17:55.059 Senate structure, you are forced to build a much 00:17:55.059 --> 00:17:57.500 wider national consensus to get anything done, 00:17:57.640 --> 00:17:59.799 which theoretically promotes broader national 00:17:59.799 --> 00:18:02.420 cohesion. The text also points out that while 00:18:02.420 --> 00:18:04.599 critics argue the structure inherently favors 00:18:04.599 --> 00:18:07.880 Republicans today, historically, the small state 00:18:07.880 --> 00:18:10.420 advantage has enabled massive legislative victories 00:18:10.420 --> 00:18:12.400 for Democrats. That's a great point. For instance, 00:18:12.579 --> 00:18:15.460 the equal representation for smaller states was 00:18:15.460 --> 00:18:18.079 pivotal for passing the Ominous Budget Reconciliation 00:18:18.079 --> 00:18:22.059 Act of 1993. That was a massive sweeping package 00:18:22.059 --> 00:18:24.619 of tax changes and spending cuts under President 00:18:24.619 --> 00:18:27.440 Clinton. And it was equally pivotal for passing 00:18:27.440 --> 00:18:29.460 the Affordable Care Act under President Obama. 00:18:30.079 --> 00:18:33.400 In those specific eras, Democrats relied heavily 00:18:33.400 --> 00:18:35.880 on holding seats in low -population states like 00:18:35.880 --> 00:18:38.579 North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and West 00:18:38.579 --> 00:18:41.599 Virginia to pass their major legislative agendas. 00:18:41.940 --> 00:18:43.900 It is also incredibly helpful to look outside 00:18:43.900 --> 00:18:46.500 our borders for context here. The text shows 00:18:46.500 --> 00:18:48.400 that the U .S. Senate is not entirely unique 00:18:48.400 --> 00:18:50.880 in its structure. Several other major nations 00:18:50.880 --> 00:18:53.440 use similar models to ensure equal representation 00:18:53.440 --> 00:18:56.240 for their subnational regions. Really? Like who? 00:18:56.480 --> 00:18:59.220 In Australia, for instance, each of the six original 00:18:59.220 --> 00:19:02.259 states states gets exactly 12 senators, regardless 00:19:02.259 --> 00:19:05.000 of their population size. Switzerland gives two 00:19:05.000 --> 00:19:07.240 seats to each canton in their council of states. 00:19:07.500 --> 00:19:10.259 And South Africa, which operates as a unitary 00:19:10.259 --> 00:19:13.200 state, gives each of its nine provinces an equal 00:19:13.200 --> 00:19:15.980 delegation of 10 representatives in their upper 00:19:15.980 --> 00:19:18.690 house. So what does this all mean? When you step 00:19:18.690 --> 00:19:20.630 back and look at all these sources, the complex 00:19:20.630 --> 00:19:23.009 history, the arcane rules and the undeniable 00:19:23.009 --> 00:19:26.049 mathematical disparities, the Senate is actually 00:19:26.049 --> 00:19:28.970 functioning exactly as it was designed to in 00:19:28.970 --> 00:19:32.819 1787. Oh, cooling saucer. Yes. George Washington 00:19:32.819 --> 00:19:35.619 famously compared the Senate to a cooling saucer 00:19:35.619 --> 00:19:38.460 for legislation, a place where the hot tea of 00:19:38.460 --> 00:19:41.200 the House could be poured to cool down. It is 00:19:41.200 --> 00:19:44.240 intentionally complex. It is steeped in deep, 00:19:44.380 --> 00:19:47.799 carved desk traditions. It is incredibly difficult 00:19:47.799 --> 00:19:50.099 to move quickly, and it is fiercely protective 00:19:50.099 --> 00:19:52.859 of minority party rights entirely by design. 00:19:53.289 --> 00:19:54.990 This raises an important question for you to 00:19:54.990 --> 00:19:57.170 consider moving forward. I'm listening. We discussed 00:19:57.170 --> 00:19:58.809 earlier how the founders designed the Senate 00:19:58.809 --> 00:20:01.170 to protect small states when the population difference 00:20:01.170 --> 00:20:03.150 between the largest and smallest was 10 to 1. 00:20:03.470 --> 00:20:05.670 Today, that ratio is 70 to 1 and it continues 00:20:05.670 --> 00:20:08.250 to grow. At what point does a cooling saucer 00:20:08.250 --> 00:20:10.789 freeze the legislative process entirely? That's 00:20:10.789 --> 00:20:12.869 a really stark way to look at it. And if the 00:20:12.869 --> 00:20:15.769 17th Amendment proved that the Senate's DNA can 00:20:15.769 --> 00:20:18.339 be changed by the will of the people. Are we 00:20:18.339 --> 00:20:20.279 inevitably heading toward a breaking point in 00:20:20.279 --> 00:20:23.700 the future where that 1787 Connecticut compromise 00:20:23.700 --> 00:20:27.140 is forced to evolve once again? It is a fascinating 00:20:27.140 --> 00:20:29.779 conceptual question to mull over the next time 00:20:29.779 --> 00:20:31.660 you see a headline about a gridlocked Congress. 00:20:32.039 --> 00:20:34.140 Thank you so much for joining us for this deep 00:20:34.140 --> 00:20:36.740 dive into the sources today. We hope this exploration 00:20:36.740 --> 00:20:39.220 gives you a much clearer lens through which to 00:20:39.220 --> 00:20:42.019 view the news. Until next time, keep questioning 00:20:42.019 --> 00:20:43.599 those headlines and keep learning.