In Defense of 60

I’ve heard the hand ringing over the past 12-18 months about the Senate’s rule of needing 60 votes to “get anything done”. Critics say it gives the minority more rights than the elected majority. This has even been characterized as Un-American by some who believe simple 51-vote majority is the “Democratic” thing to do.

To be clear, the rule of 60 is to end debate, because the U.S. Senate doesn’t have timing rules like the House does. The key is, if the debate of a bill isn’t ended, it can never be voted upon (which is a simple majority) and thus, never passed.

These critics have a wrong-headed view of government to begin with. In a government that is needed legislate every moral, political, cultural, etc. issue, a way to quickly act is required. If government must generally choose your life’s path, then there is an argument for a quick moving legislature. However, that view isn’t what the founders wanted. They instituted the cloture rule of 60 to make sure that any government action taken in people’s lives was to be overwhelmingly supported. The easier you make it, the more engulfed one’s life would become by bureaucracy.

So yes, we need a 60-vote rule in the United States Senate. This counts when either party is in the majority, by the way. That is the “American” thing to do.