Filibuster is an ancient rule which still controls our Senate that says a Senator is allowed to keep talking as long as they can (as opposed to the House, where they are afforded speaking time by the minute). People have filibustered for days before, just straight up reading the phonebook or whatever. It means one (or a handful) of Senators can threaten to stop a bill indefinitely by preventing a vote to ever happen. (The senate can override a filibuster with a super-majority, but that is rare and Senators don't like to hurt their filibuster power).
Bernie was trying to shutdown the government because the new round of stimulus that was proposed offered no direct payments to citizens. It was just more handouts to corporations. He said give em $1200 or we do another shut-down, which is bad political optics as well as causing many thousands of people to go without paychecks.
The federal government only votes for the funding on a year by year basis, it expires every January. The government needs to vote how to fund itself for the next year, so no it's not pre-approved. This is a bill that needs to happen or come January first, only "essential" government functions like the military have funding from an emergency pool. Politicians often try to tie big bills (like the stimulus) to government funding bill because it has to pass.
Bernie was threatening that, playing the last card he could essentially. But the new proposed stimulus bill has $600 per person for direct payouts, so he'll probably cave because some money is better than no money.
Also, the longest filibuster ever was Strom Thurmond speaking for ~24 hours against a civil rights bill. Biden spoke at the funeral of one of the most racist Americans in modern history, unironically.
The fillibuster has a complicated history. Cloture, the rule that says you can vote to stop a fillibuster with a certain majority, was only adopted in 1917 when Wilson got mad that a fillibuster killed a bill to arm merchant vessels against German submarines.
Filibuster is an ancient rule which still controls our Senate that says a Senator is allowed to keep talking as long as they can (as opposed to the House, where they are afforded speaking time by the minute). People have filibustered for days before, just straight up reading the phonebook or whatever. It means one (or a handful) of Senators can threaten to stop a bill indefinitely by preventing a vote to ever happen. (The senate can override a filibuster with a super-majority, but that is rare and Senators don't like to hurt their filibuster power).
Bernie was trying to shutdown the government because the new round of stimulus that was proposed offered no direct payments to citizens. It was just more handouts to corporations. He said give em $1200 or we do another shut-down, which is bad political optics as well as causing many thousands of people to go without paychecks.
The federal government only votes for the funding on a year by year basis, it expires every January. The government needs to vote how to fund itself for the next year, so no it's not pre-approved. This is a bill that needs to happen or come January first, only "essential" government functions like the military have funding from an emergency pool. Politicians often try to tie big bills (like the stimulus) to government funding bill because it has to pass.
Bernie was threatening that, playing the last card he could essentially. But the new proposed stimulus bill has $600 per person for direct payouts, so he'll probably cave because some money is better than no money.
Also, the longest filibuster ever was Strom Thurmond speaking for ~24 hours against a civil rights bill. Biden spoke at the funeral of one of the most racist Americans in modern history, unironically.
The fillibuster has a complicated history. Cloture, the rule that says you can vote to stop a fillibuster with a certain majority, was only adopted in 1917 when Wilson got mad that a fillibuster killed a bill to arm merchant vessels against German submarines.