Background: The US Senate originally allowed unlimited time for debate before a vote, and throughout the history of the Senate extended debate was used to delay or stop voting on bills or Presidential nominations. Since the mid 1850's this has been known as "filibustering". Unlimited debate continued until 1917, when at President Wilson's request the Senate adopted "Rule 22", which with a 2/3 majority could cut off debate, a process called "cloture". In 1975 the Senate reduced this number to 3/5, or 60 votes, which is the current number required for cloture, except for debate on a change to the Senate rules, which still requires a 2/3 majority for cloture. Historically this has sometimes resulted in nominations and bills that are not unacceptable to either major party.
The claim: the Senate will restrict debate further, either by changing Rule 22 or by some other procedural means.
The judge may consider official Senate web pages such as the official rule description. A change to the paragraph in Rule 22 reducing the number required to invoke cloture would be one way to satisfy this claim. A timely update by the Senate of this web page is not required for judging if a relevant change has been reported in the mainstream press.
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