After that, and perhaps a bill to overhaul the banking system, few of the measures enacted into law were as significant as a series of bills that commanded majority support in both houses but nonetheless died because of filibusters or opposition from Republican leaders.
He said he would have preferred a raising of the debt ceiling into next year, but "because of the filibuster, he needed Schumer's buy-in".
Because of filibustering and outright refusals to discuss policy, our government and our citizens are diminished in our capacity to overcome obstacles.
About 10,000 residents lost eligibility for extended jobless benefits because of the filibuster.
Mr Estrada is the first judicial nominee ever to withdraw his name because of a filibuster.
Because of the filibuster, the Senate generally needs sixty votes to pass legislation.
But as Brown is currently reminding us, because of the filibuster rule, it takes only 41 to stop any bill from passing.
It's necessary because of a filibuster threat led by the Senate's conservative wing, which wants to block the Senate from debating a gun-control bill.
On many occasions during the last four years, legislation that had support from a majority of senators as well as the American public died in the Senate because of the filibuster.
Party control is much more important in the House than it is in the Senate, where 60 of the 100 votes are needed to pass most legislation because of the filibuster rule and where party discipline is not so strong.
