This week the US Senate and President debated a potential reform to the Senate's rules of order: elimination of the "filibuster". Unlike a conventional filibuster, in which a member speaks continuously and blocks all action by the assembly, since the 1970s Senate rules have allowed a ["silent filibuster"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filibuster_in_the_United_States_Senate#The_two-track_system,60-vote_rule_and_rise_of_the_routine_filibuster(1970_onward)) by which members can indefinitely block a specific action without holding the floor while the rest of the Senate's business continues unimpeded. Under current rules a vote of 60 out of the 100 Senators is required to end "debate" and proceed to the final vote, so this unusual "cloture" requirement behaves similarly to a standard supermajority requirement in other systems. However, certain categories of motions, such as budget reconciliation, executive and judicial nominee confirmations, and emergency powers, are effectively exempted from this process in the US Senate and require only a simple majority of 51 votes to pass.
What are the effects of supermajority requirements where they are used in other parliamentary bodies? Do they also have categories of items that require a simple majority instead? Are there notable motions in the history of the US Senate that narrowly failed because of the supermajority requirement, or that narrowly passed with a simple majority and would have failed if the current system had been in use at the time?
Who do you guys think will win the 2022 Punjab Legislative Assembly Elections?
I’m going to link the direct pdf so everyone can read through the provisions themselves, but if this passes, the NY governor will be able to bypass constitutional law and the due process clause and literally imprison people without a trial that the governor or her appointed commissioners view as a threat to public health. Since when are governors or their commissioners medical doctors qualified to make those decisions? They’re not. This must be stopped at all cost. See here: https://legislation.nysenate.gov/pdf/bills/2021/A416
