requires the votes of 60 senators (Schickler & Wawro, 2004). By invoking cloture in the Senate a filibuster is “broken” by limiting the amount of debate on the bill to an additional 30 hours. The use of filibusters has increased dramatically since the 1970s, and especially since the mid-2000s. From 2005-2006, senators filed 68 motions for cloture compared with 139 motions filed in 20072008, an astonishing year-overyear increase of 104 percent (see figure 2) (United States Senate, 2011). The use of holds has also been rising in recent years; these have mainly been employed by Republicans to block approval of President Barack Obama’s nominees for vacant executive branch positions (Ornstein, 2011). One year into the Obama administration, 177 appointees were awaiting confirmation, representing a 152 percent increase from the number of candidates pending confirmation at the same point in President George W. Bush’s administration (Lowrey, 2010). Failure to confirm
these nominations leaves the US federal government understaffed in critical leadership positions across numerous administrative agencies, including agencies in the national defense sector. The problem of filling these critical positions is exacerbated by the fact that long confirmation periods can dissuade applicants from even accepting the nominations in the first place, thereby reducing the available talent pool (King, 2010). Further, the inability to confirm appointees has attracted international attention, with foreign diplomats voicing concerns that the failure to staff key positions may hamper the US’s ability to be a reliable and committed partner in trade talks (Lowrey, 2010). Unfortunately, the situation in Congress is not showing any signs of improvement. Due in part to 40 years of redistricting efforts, elected lawmakers have very little incentive to move to the ideological centre, and may even be ousted from their party for doing so during the primaries
Spring 2012
Canadian student review
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