{ "id": "RL32878", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "number": "RL32878", "active": true, "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "versions": [ { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 585812, "date": "2018-09-28", "retrieved": "2018-10-02T15:21:31.350773", "title": "Cloture Attempts on Nominations: Data and Historical Development Through November 20, 2013", "summary": "The motion for cloture is available in the Senate to limit debate on nominations, as on other matters. Table 6 lists all nominations against which cloture was moved from 1949, when the Senate changed the cloture rule to allow it to be moved on nominations, until November 21, 2013, when the Senate reinterpreted the rule to lower the threshold for invoking cloture on most nominations from three-fifths of the Senate to a majority of Senators voting. The reinterpretation of the rule significantly altered the use of cloture in the Senate, such that conclusions drawn from the data in this report are not applicable to similar data collected since that time. The initial version of this report was written prior to the 2013 reinterpretation of the rule; the report will not be further updated to reflect cloture action on nominations after that time. \nBecause cloture can be used to end consideration of a nomination, it can be used to overcome a filibuster against a nomination. Table 6 shows the outcome of each cloture attempt on a nomination through November 20, 2013, and the final disposition of the nomination. It would be erroneous, however, to treat this table as a list of filibusters on nominations. Filibusters can occur without cloture being attempted, and cloture can be attempted when no filibuster is evident. Moreover, it appears that Senate leaders generally avoided bringing to the floor nominations on which a filibuster seemed likely. There are no means to identify the merely threatened filibuster.\nFrom 1949 through November 20, 2013, cloture was sought on 143 nominations that were disposed of prior to the rule reinterpretation. On 59 of these nominations cloture was invoked, and on 55 others no cloture motion received a vote. All but 3 of these 114 nominations were confirmed. Only on the remaining 32 nominations did the Senate ultimately reject cloture; of these, 26 were not confirmed.\nUntil 1968, cloture was moved on no nominations, and from then through 1978, it was moved on only two. Even thereafter, in no single Congress from the 96th through the 102nd (1979 through 1992) was cloture sought on more than three nominations, and in no Congress from the 104th through the 107th (1995 through 2002) was it sought on more than five. Between these last two periods, however, the 103rd Congress (1993-1994) foreshadowed a more recent pattern, with cloture action on 12 nominations. In every Congress between 2003 and 2013, except the 110th (2007-2008), cloture was attempted on at least 14 nominations. The same five Congresses that saw cloture action on 12 or more nominations were those in which the Senate minority was of the party opposite that of the President. \nIn all the Congresses or periods identified, no more than a quarter of nominations with cloture attempts failed of confirmation, except in the 108th Congress (2003-2004), when almost 80% of nominations subjected to cloture attempts (mostly judicial) were not confirmed. Prominent in this Congress were discussions of making cloture easier to get on nominations by changing Senate rules through procedures not potentially subject to a supermajority vote. In the 112th Congress, by contrast, cloture was moved on a record 33 nominations (again mostly to judicial positions), but on 23 of these nominations, the nomination was confirmed without a cloture vote. \nOverall, cloture was sought on nominations to 74 executive and 69 judicial positions. Judicial nominations, however, predominated in the two Congress just noted and before 2003, except in the 103rd Congress (1993-1994). Executive branch nominations predominated in that Congress and the 111th (2009-2010), both at the beginning of a new presidential Administration, as well as in the 109th Congress (2005-2006) and the start of the 113th Congress (2013).\nFew of the nominations on which cloture was sought prior to the rule reinterpretation were to positions at the highest levels of the government. These included 4 nominations to the Supreme Court and 11 to positions at the Cabinet level.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/RL32878", "sha1": "2e60648e68df1514a6bc28f031faa6c2e94657fd", "filename": "files/20180928_RL32878_2e60648e68df1514a6bc28f031faa6c2e94657fd.html", "images": {} }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/RL32878", "sha1": "b1a219ef591a22337dc0e32d8c7c13aeb29ae912", "filename": "files/20180928_RL32878_b1a219ef591a22337dc0e32d8c7c13aeb29ae912.pdf", "images": {} } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4747, "name": "Senate Floor Procedure" }, { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4782, "name": "Executive & Judicial Branch Appointments" } ] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 422016, "date": "2013-06-26", "retrieved": "2016-04-06T21:04:54.212135", "title": "Cloture Attempts on Nominations: Data and Historical Development", "summary": "The motion for cloture is available in the Senate to limit debate on nominations, as on other matters. Cloture can, accordingly, be used to overcome a filibuster against a nomination. Table 6 lists all nominations against which cloture has been moved, showing the outcome of the cloture attempt and the final disposition of the nomination. It would be erroneous, however, to treat this table as a list of filibusters on nominations. Filibusters can occur without cloture being attempted, and cloture can be attempted when no filibuster is evident. Often today, moreover, it appears that Senate leaders generally avoid bringing to the floor nominations on which a filibuster seems likely. In such cases there are no means by which to identify the merely threatened filibuster.\nUntil 1949, cloture could not be invoked on nominations. From then through 2012, cloture was sought on 122 nominations. On 46 of these nominations cloture was invoked, and on 49 others no cloture motion received a vote. All but one of these 95 nominations was confirmed. Only on the remaining 27 nominations did the Senate ultimately reject cloture; of these, 21 were not confirmed.\nUntil 1968, cloture was moved on no nominations, and from then through 1978, it was moved on only two. Even thereafter, in no single Congress from the 96th through the 102nd (1979 through 1992) was cloture sought on more than three nominations, and in no Congress from the 104th through the 107th (1995 through 2002) was it sought on more than five. Between these last two periods, however, the 103rd Congress (1993-1994) foreshadowed a more recent pattern, with cloture action on 12 nominations. Most recently, in every Congress of the past decade (2003 through 2012) except the 110th, cloture has been attempted on at least 14 nominations. The same five Congresses that saw cloture action on 12 or more nominations are those in which the Senate minority was of the party opposite that of the President. \nIn all the Congresses or periods identified, no more than a quarter of nominations with cloture attempts failed of confirmation, except in the 108th Congress (2003-2004), when almost 80% of such nominations (mostly to judicial positions) were not confirmed. Prominent in this Congress were discussions of making cloture easier to get on nominations by changing Senate Rules through procedures not requiring a super-majority vote on cloture. In the 112th Congress, by contrast, cloture was moved on a record 33 nominations (again mostly to judicial positions), but on 23 of these nominations, no cloture vote ultimately occurred. \nOverall, cloture has been sought on nominations to 67 executive and 55 judicial positions. Judicial nominations, however, predominated in the two Congresses just noted and before 2003, except in the 103rd Congress (1993-1994). In that Congress and the 111th (2009-2010), both at the beginning of a new presidential Administration, as well as in the 109th Congress (2005-2006), executive branch nominations predominated.\nFew of the nominations on which cloture has been sought have been to positions at the highest levels of the government. These have included four nominations to the Supreme Court and seven to positions in the President\u2019s Cabinet (or ones often considered to be at the Cabinet level).", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/RL32878", "sha1": "1eb074c852ba20e4f8c03a45b7e748f3eaa956ac", "filename": "files/20130626_RL32878_1eb074c852ba20e4f8c03a45b7e748f3eaa956ac.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/RL32878", "sha1": "5b377604cdeb1e8beb623f87322d6ee9ed60ad75", "filename": "files/20130626_RL32878_5b377604cdeb1e8beb623f87322d6ee9ed60ad75.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 2153, "name": "Executive Branch Appointments" }, { "source": "CongOpsList", "id": 4140, "name": "Senate Floor Proceedings" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc103181/", "id": "RL32878_2011Jan31", "date": "2011-01-31", "retrieved": "2012-09-19T20:16:14", "title": "Cloture Attempts on Nominations", "summary": "This report discusses topics regarding cloture as a means to limit debate and overcome a possible filibuster.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20110131_RL32878_422396814e856a0df8b8faef4c52e30fd21ee963.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20110131_RL32878_422396814e856a0df8b8faef4c52e30fd21ee963.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Congress", "name": "Congress" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Presidential appointments", "name": "Presidential appointments" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Cloture", "name": "Cloture" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Presidents", "name": "Presidents" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs6157/", "id": "RL32878 2005-04-22", "date": "2005-04-22", "retrieved": "2005-06-10T23:59:35", "title": "Cloture Attempts on Nominations", "summary": "Cloture is the only means by which the Senate can vote to limit debate on a matter, and thereby overcome a possible filibuster. It would be erroneous, however, to assume that cases in which cloture is sought are the same as those in which a filibuster occurs. Cloture may be sought when no filibuster is taking place, and filibusters may occur without cloture being sought.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20050422_RL32878_dd5d39f848e82c773f9469ef9299e30dfb2c3d36.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20050422_RL32878_dd5d39f848e82c773f9469ef9299e30dfb2c3d36.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Congress", "name": "Congress" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Presidential appointments", "name": "Presidential appointments" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Cloture", "name": "Cloture" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Presidents", "name": "Presidents" } ] } ], "topics": [ "American Law", "Economic Policy", "Foreign Affairs", "Legislative Process" ] }