I did inhale.

It's the Military-Industrial-Congressional Complex. I would say that the first step is to fix our politics, since if Congress refuses to fund all these expensive and relatively worthless toys the companies that make them will stop production.

But I don't really know how to make this happen right now. The Complex has had half a century to sink its roots deep into our society. Excising it would require some very invasive surgery on the body politic.

The 30-hour rule only kicks in if Reid gets his 60 votes for cloture. That’s not what this all-nighter is really about. Here’s how it works:

Once the amendment is up for debate, it can only come to an up-or-down vote if with unanimous consent or if cloture is invoked by 60 votes. The Republicans won’t give unanimous consent, which in effect is a filibuster since nothing else can happen unless cloture is invoked or the amendment is pulled from the floor.

so Reid has to try to invoke cloture. If he gets the 60 votes, the rule says that debate on the underlying question (i.e., the amendment) can continue only for 30 more hours. At the end of 30 hours an up or down will happen. Since it is inevitable, usually unanimous consent for an immediate vote is given as soon as cloture is invoked. This is not going to happen in this case, since there will not be 60 votes for cloture and the amendment will not see an up-or-down vote.

Now here is the trick: a cloture petition cannot be considered until the next legislative day. You can’t get a vote to invoke cloture and start the 30-hour clock until the Senate adjourns for the day and reconvenes the next day. The way you get a Strom Thurmond-type filibuster is to take the floor and refuse to yield. In essence this means that tomorrow never comes, because the Senate can’t adjourn as long as the filibustering senator has the floor. As long as it is the same legislative day, the cloture motion can’t come to a vote. Of course, this true filibuster is only necessary if the votes for cloture are there, which is not the case on this amendment.

What Reid is doing, essentially, is filibustering the cloture motion. He intends to keep the Senate in session all night to prolong the legislative day and keep the cloture motion from coming to a (failing) vote. In principle there is no limit to the amount of time this can take, so 30 hours is irrelevant. The cloture motion “ripens” as soon as the Senate adjourns for the day and convenes the next day, whether that happens in 1 hour or 100 hours.

What Freddoso is driving as is Reid’s inability to keep the Senate from adjourning. You need 51 senators for a quorum, and if there is no quorum the body can adjourn immediately. When that happens, if it comes out of adjournment the cloture motion is ripe, so there goes your all-nighter. Assuming that the Republicans plus Lieberman maintain enough discipline not to show for a quorum call, the stunt really is over.

The truly aggressive option would be to continue debate on the amendment endlessly, but that will get nowhere and cause Reid problems politically as he fruitlessly grinds the Senate to a halt. A tactic like that can only work if you have the president on your side; if the president is sniping at you from the press room, you are screwed. If he can draw attention to GOP obstructionism with this stunt, so much the better. The technical truth, though, is that Reid is filibustering the body that he runs, if he gets away with it at all.

As best I can tell, McConnell insisting on 60 votes for cloture on an amendment is outside normal rules. So Reid is pushing him, by filibustering a cloture vote on the amendment.

If Reid can keep it up (which ain't easy, because one Dem is out from a medical problem, and Lieberman isn't really a Dem, so he needs cooperation from at least two(?) Republicans), the Repubs will have to cave and allow an up or down vote (which Reid will win, since he's got more than 50).

IOW, it's an unprecedented situation, so they're really making it up as they go along.

but does the withdrawal of the troops require 60 votes or a simple majority?

It is my understanding of US Senate fillibusters brought on by the minority party (Republicans) that have gone to cloture (Democrats) that require a majority vote of 60.

Or is this a fillibuster (Democrats) of cloture itself? I.e. which party brought the fillibuster of the troop withdrawal to cloture? Or perhaps no one brought the fillibuster to cloture and it's cloture itself that is being protested?

Colour me confused but I would like to understand the finer points of what's going on in the Senate tonight.

...the GOP was filibustering the Levin-Reed amendment. They're doing it by insisting that a cloture vote (takes 60) pass before debate could cease on it. Reid kept them up all night (to make it clear that more than just a threat of filibuster would be required). The cloture vote failed, but 4 GOP Sens sided with the Dems.

Now Reid has pulled the Defense Authorization Bill (the bill that was being amended), and says he won't resubmit it until the GOP agrees that all amendments will be given straight up or down.

Technically, you don't need an Authorization Bill (it sets funding limits and guidelines for next year), but it's considered a pretty important.

Good info Gordon, thanks. If I'd seen it early, would have stuck it above the fold