Reference no: EM132273891

In your reading assignment, you learned that bills can pass the House by a simple majority vote (51%) but usually require 60 votes (60%) to pass the Senate.

This is because it takes 60 votes to end a filibuster in the Senate. Additionally, both chambers must also pass identical versions of the bill.

As you can see, this makes it much easier for bills to pass the House, but difficult to pass the Senate, unless one political party has at least a 60-40 advantage in the Senate. A good example is the upcoming vote on confirming Judge Gorusch to the Supreme Court.

Previously, Senate rules mandated that confirmation of a Supreme Court Justice must be done with at least 60 votes to avoid a filibuster. Republicans responded by changing the rules to allow Judge Gorusch to be confirmed with a simple majority vote. 

In practice, do you favor this so-called "supermajority" component of bicameralism, or would it be preferable for bills to be passed through the Senate with a simple majority vote? Why or why not?

What are the advantages and disadvantages of each approach?