Cloture is a process the Senate is using on a fairly frequent basis. It’s a procedural vote, or as it’s sometimes called, a test vote. It’s one of the first ways to see if a bill will live or die.
Cloture is a French word meaning ‘to terminate.’ That’s how the Senate uses it, to start a debate countdown on a bill or end a filibuster.
To bring a bill to a full vote, the Senate must agree to do so. There are two ways to do that. The first way is through unanimous consent, which is the preferred way. However, that means a single opposing vote could kill that motion.
The second option is cloture, which generally needs 60 votes. There are some cloture votes that need just a simple majority, but legislation generally needs 60 votes if all Senate seats are filled.
It takes 16 senators to file a cloture motion. Interestingly, when cloture is filed, if another senator is speaking at that time, the member filing cloture gets to interrupt him or her to file.
Once cloture is filed, senators will vote on it one hour after it convenes on the second calendar day after the cloture motion was filed. For example, if cloture is filed anytime on a Wednesday, the vote would happen Friday, an hour after the Senate is called into session.
If cloture is invoked, the Senate votes on the full bill 30 hours after that.
In that time, senators can only add amendments to the bill that are relevant. That means they aren’t able to add in pet project bills as a bargaining tool for their vote.
That 30-hour window is why Senators will occasionally come in on weekends for big votes.
If cloture fails, the majority leader can file a motion to reconsider and then can try to invoke cloture again at a later time.
It’s harder to pass cloture than the final bill because final passage only needs a majority to pass, or in a full Senate 51 votes.
That is why cloture is often called a test vote.