Say a Republican senator is doing a filibuster in his best Jimmy Stewart/Mr. Smith impression (i.e. on the floor of the Senate reading a favorite book). Republicans are in the minority in the senate with 40 seats (hypothetical here despite appearances). Democrats are all at home sleeping and the senator initiates a quorum call.
By law, as I understand it, there needs to be 51 senators present to maintain a quorum.
Who has to come?
What if the republicans want to go get some sleep? Must the Democrats maintain 50 members in the chamber?
Is it proportional to party? So 40% of the seats are filled by Republicans and 60% by Democrats?
Get into a fist fight and anyone knocked out stays?
I am presuming no one really wants to be there but the party that does not need to be camped in their chairs listening to the phone book being read certainly has a number of advantages.
When the Senator initiates a quorum call, he yields the floor to the presiding officer to determine if there is a quorum present. But by yielding the floor, he has, in effect, ended his filibuster. So I believe this is not very likely.
Just asking because it seems to undermine the whole notion of a filibuster in the first place. It is the minority party doing the filibuster and it is the majority party running the Senate. If the minority party stops to force a quorum I presume the chair can recognize anyone they want to once quorum is achieved thus killing the filibuster.
This is just wrong. Any Senator can suggest the absence of a quorum at any time. The motion takes precedence and must be dealt with immediately, but whoever was speaking retains the floor at the conclusion of the quorum call.
The quorum call in the Senate is usually used as a way to stall, either because there’s nobody to ready to speak at that time or the principals need a little time to confer and try to work something out. That’s why when you tune into one on CSPAN it seems like the clerk is taking forever to call the roll – the point isn’t actually to determine of a quorum is present, but to delay. These quorum calls are usually ended by unanimous consent before they get out of the "A"s.
However, a “live” quorum call is taken to actually force a quorum. A quorum of the Senate is defined in the Constitution as a majority of the body – so 51 Senators. Should such a call find that a quorum is not present, there are two possibilities: either the Senate can adjourn, or Senators can compel the attendance of absent Senators.
For the later, the presiding officer will order the Seargeant-at-Arms to arrest absent members and convey them to the floor. In 1988, Republicans were trying to force an adjournment during a quorum call and refused to come to the floor. The Seargeant-at-Arms had to physically carry Senator Bob Packwood onto the floor.
Ha! Love it! (Regardless of party that is funny…have to wonder how a senator does not know that the Constitution means what it says about compelling their attendance including dragging them bodily into the chamber.)
That said the OP remains. Who has to maintain the quorum? If all the Senators start walking out how does the Sergeant-at-Arms decide who to push back in given forty-nine are allowed to leave (so…one filibustering guy who obviously has to remain and 48 others)?
The presiding officer (i.e. a member of the majority party) instructs the Seargeant-at-Arms to compel the attendance of absent Senators but as far as I know does not specify who. Since the Majority is presumably trying to break a minority filibuster, leadership in the majority will make sure most of their people are there.
In the Packwood case, it was late at night and Majority Leader Robert Byrd was one shy of a quorum because some of his more ancient members had gone to bed. Republicans were requesting quorum call after quorum call to stall proceedings, Byrd decided to let the quorum call finish so he could compel their attendance. The Seargeant-at-Arms and staff spread out across the Capitol complex looking for Senators. Packwood was just the one they happened to find.
By the way, this is why a Senator cannot be forced to take to the floor and talk out a filibuster. Rather than speaking, a member wishing to stall proceedings could simply move quorum call after quorum call. Talking filibusters like Strom Thurmond’s 23 hours filibuster of the Civil Rights Act only happen because the filibustering Senator wants them to happen.
The idea that a quorum has to be maintained is a little bit off. The presumption is that a quorum is present until it is established that a quorum is not present. Should there be a quorum call and a quorum is established, the Sergeant at Arms is under no obligation to keep those senators present for any length of time, untill the next live quorum call is ordered.
Not necessarily. Quorum calls without “intervening business” can be ruled out of order as dilatory. See Riddick’s Senate Procedure, p. 1042-46 (pdf) for a definition of “intervening business”.
