Nuclear option

Common card · No. 209548

In the United States Senate, the nuclear option is a legislative procedure that allows the Senate to override a standing rule by a simple majority, avoiding the two-thirds supermajority, which is normally required to invoke cloture on a change to the standing rules. The term "nuclear option" is an analogy to nuclear weapons being the most extreme option in warfare. The use of the nuclear option to abolish the 60-vote threshold for cloture on legislation has been proposed but not successfully effected. The nuclear option can be invoked by a senator raising a point of order that contravenes a standing rule. The presiding officer would then overrule the point of order based on Senate rules and precedents; this ruling would then be appealed and overturned by a simple majority vote (or a tie vote), establishing a new precedent. The nuclear option is made possible by the principle in Senate procedure that appeals from rulings of the chair on points of order relating to nondebatable questions...

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