What is a filibuster? Can it be stopped? What are the political implications of filibustering?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The ideal answer should include:
1. Never-ending talk by one or a number of senators designed to delay or block action in the Senate is called a filibuster. The House of Representatives does not allow for filibustering.
2. In order to end a filibuster, three-fifths of the Senate must vote to end the debate, a process called cloture. Cloture is rarely successful because many senators see advantages in having the filibuster available.
3. Historically, the minority party in the Senate threatened a filibuster to prevent disliked majority actions, but the use of the filibuster to prevent majority action now has become standard behavior. Between 1917 and 1970, only 58 motions for cloture were filed, or about one a year. For the two-year Congress that ended in 2018, there were 168 cloture votes to end filibusters, or nearly one per day that the Senate was in session. This has meant that passing most major legislation in the Senate requires a "supermajority," the votes of 60 members-sufficient to invoke cloture.
4. The increase in filibusters created a "minority veto," delaying the appointment of judges and the confirmation of heads of agencies. In 2013, Senate Democrats voted to cut off debate on executive and lower court judicial nominees by a simple majority vote. This was called the most significant change in Senate procedures in a generation and was denounced by Republicans as a "nuclear option."
5. After Democrats tried to block President Trump's appointment of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court in 2018, Republicans further reduced the power of the filibuster by allowing such nominations to the highest court to proceed with a simple majority. The ability to use the filibuster on most other legislation remained in place.