ABSTRACT
Legislators represent citizens and their interests in the policy process, and therefore the institution ought to be somewhat more horizontal in design. But permitting leaders or select legislators to do so chafes against our democratic sensibilities. The power is likely to be used prematurely to truncate proceedings and undermine the kind of debate and deliberation that are central to a healthy legislative process. Since 1974, the body's rules have made budget bills and reconciliation—a legislative vehicle frequently used for changes in tax law and entitlement programs like Social Security—immune from the filibuster. Because members fight tenaciously for federal resources and their constituents' interests, lawmakers understood that the regular legislative process would be obstructed by affected senators. Whereas the House meets the benchmark that a majority of members can bring floor debate to an end, the Senate most clearly does not. Only twenty of ninety-nine state legislative bodies have procedures that make debate termination more difficult.
