Question

4 Understanding Visuals

Congress is an institution
of people and of rules.
Which house of Congress
is this political cartoon
about? Which rule does it
refer to? What is the
cartoonist saying about
that rule?

Answer 1

The House of Congress that the political cartoon is about is the Senate and the rule being referred to is the Cloture Rule.

What is the Cloture Rule ?

The Cloture Rule is a rule of the United States Senate that allows a supermajority of 60 senators to end a filibuster and allow a bill to come to a vote. The filibuster is a procedure that allows a senator to endlessly debate a bill, effectively preventing it from coming to a vote.

The Cloture Rule is designed to prevent the minority party from using the filibuster to block all legislation. The cartoonist is inferring that this rule will enable senators who are overly passionate and debating a bill, to move on.