Reporter’s guide to filibuster reform in the U.S. Senate
Reporters covering the Senate and citizens watching from the sidelines will welcome a new guide to the upcoming battle over the filibuster from one of the preeminent authorities on Congress. Political science professor Steven S. Smith has prepared a primer outlining proposals and procedures for reforming the Senate’s rules pertaining to filibusters. Get ready for the opening of the 112th Congress and a possible showdown over the parliamentary procedure that has been used to block legislation by both parties and famously by Jimmy Stewart in the 1939 film, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.
Expert proposes end to ‘parliamentary warfare’ over filibusters
Mr. Smith went to Washington, again. Instead of staging a filibuster, Steven S. Smith, PhD, political science professor and parliamentary procedure expert testified Sept. 22 before the U.S. Senate Committee on Rules and Administration on proposed rule changes governing debate and cloture.
Byrd was staunch defender of Senate traditions, says congressional expert
The U.S. Senate lost one of its staunchest defenders and most influential leaders with the death Monday, June 28, of long-serving Democratic Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia. “The death of Robert Byrd is important,” says Steven S. Smith, a congressional expert at Washington University in St. Louis. “He was first and foremost a senator. He loved the Senate and was the strongest defender of its traditions.”