Cloture Attempts on Nominations

Richard S. Beth
Specialist on Congress and the Legislative Process

Betsy Palmer
Analyst on Congress and the Legislative Process

Cloture is the only means by which the Senate can vote to limit debate on a matter, and thereby overcome a possible filibuster. It would be erroneous, however, to assume that cases in which cloture is sought are the same as those in which a filibuster occurs. Cloture may be sought when no filibuster is taking place, and filibusters may occur without cloture being sought.

Until 1949, cloture could not be invoked on nominations, and before 1980 this action was attempted only twice. From the 96th Congress (1979-1980) through the 102nd (1991-1992), cloture was never sought on more than three nominations in a single Congress, but in four of the nine Congresses since then a dozen or more nominations were subjected to cloture attempts.

From 1949 through 2010, cloture was sought on 89 nominations, and invoked on 41. The Senate voted to reject cloture on 22 of the remaining 48 nominations, and on the final 26 nominations no cloture motion received a vote. Eighteen of the 89 nominees failed of confirmation, and 11 of these 18 were considered during the 108th Congress (2003-2004). In the 103rd Congress (1993- 1994), the 109th Congress (2005-2006), and the 111th Congress (2009-2010) most of the cloture attempts were to executive branch nominations, but in all other Congresses nominations to the federal bench predominated.

Cloture has been sought on four nominations to the Supreme Court. In 1968, a cloture vote on the motion to proceed to consider the nomination of Abe Fortas to be Chief Justice failed. In 1971, when he was first appointed to the court, and again in 1986 when he was nominated to be Chief Justice, opponents of William H. Rehnquist mounted a filibuster. Though the cloture vote in 1971 was unsuccessful, Rehnquist was confirmed to the court; in 1986, the cloture vote was successful. In 2006, the Senate successfully invoked cloture on the nomination of Samuel A. Alito, Jr., to be an associate justice on the Supreme Court.

The report includes a list of all nominations on which cloture was attempted in past Congresses, showing the outcome of the cloture attempt and the final disposition of the nomination. Similar data for the 112th Congress appear in the Appendix. The tables in the body of the report do not cover actions in the 112th Congress. This report, including the tables in the body, is to be updated after each Congress in which additional nominations are subjected to cloture attempts.

Filibusters and cloture are discussed more generally in CRS Report RL30360, Filibusters and Cloture in the Senate, by Richard S. Beth, Valerie Heitshusen, and Betsy Palmer. The process by which the Senate considers nominations is discussed more generally in CRS Report RL31980, Senate Consideration of Presidential Nominations: Committee and Floor Procedure, by Elizabeth Rybicki, and CRS Report RL31948, Evolution of the Senate’s Role in the Nomination and Confirmation Process: A Brief History, by Betsy Palmer.


Date of Report: March 9, 2012
Number of Pages: 15
Order Number: RL32878
Price: $29.95

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