History of Filibuster in Timeline

A filibuster is a political tactic employed in legislative bodies where one or more members extend debate on a proposal to delay or prevent a vote. It's a form of obstruction, sometimes called 'talking a bill to death.' The goal is to stall or kill legislation by prolonging discussion and preventing a decision from being reached. This tactic is often used by a minority to block measures favored by the majority.

1936: Tommy Henderson's nine-and-a-half-hour filibuster

In 1936, Tommy Henderson (Independent Unionist MP for Shankill) spoke for nine and a half hours on the Appropriation Bill in the Northern Ireland House of Commons, criticizing the Unionist government.

1957: Strom Thurmond's filibuster

In 1957, Strom Thurmond set the record for the longest senate speech which was later surpassed by Cory Booker's marathon speech in 2025.

November 22, 1960: Ahrn Palley filibusters Law and Order Maintenance Bill

On November 22, 1960, in the Southern Rhodesia Legislative Assembly, Independent member Ahrn Palley staged a filibuster against the Law and Order Maintenance Bill by moving a long series of amendments, keeping the Assembly sitting from 8 PM to 12:30 PM the following day.

April 1963: Roseller Lim's eighteen-hour filibuster

In April 1963, Roseller Lim of the Nacionalista Party held an eighteen-hour filibuster in the Senate of the Philippines during the election for the President of the Senate, waiting for party-mate Alejandro Almendras to arrive from the United States, in an attempt to prevent the election of Ferdinand Marcos to the Senate Presidency.

May 6, 1991: Mike Harris filibusters Zebra Mussel Act

On May 6, 1991, Mike Harris, then leader of the opposition Progressive Conservatives, filibustered by introducing Bill 95 (a.k.a. Zebra Mussel Act), using the names of every lake, river, and stream in the province in the title to derail the implementation of the budget tabled by the NDP government under premier Bob Rae.

March 11, 1993: Madeleine Petrovic's filibuster

On March 11, 1993, Madeleine Petrovic filibustered for 10 hours and 35 minutes.

1993: Jorge Ulloa's Six-Hour Speech

In 1993, Jorge Ulloa of the Independent Democratic Union gave a six-hour-long speech at the Chamber of Deputies in Valparaíso, Chile. This filibuster was conducted to allow Pablo Longueira to arrive from Concepción in order to vote on the impeachment of three Supreme Court justices.

April 1997: NDP filibuster against Toronto megacity bill

In April 1997, the Ontario New Democratic Party tried to prevent the Progressive Conservatives' Bill 103 from taking effect by introducing 11,500 amendments to the megacity bill, which would amalgamate the municipalities of Metro Toronto into the "megacity" of Toronto.

1999: Reform Party filibuster on native treaty issues

In 1999, the Reform Party of Canada conducted a filibuster concerning native treaty issues in British Columbia. This was the longest filibuster since that event.

1999: Filibuster in LegCo over Municipal Services Bill

In 1999, the first incidence of filibuster in the Legislative Council (LegCo) after the Handover occurred during the second reading of the Provision of Municipal Services (Reorganization) Bill. This bill aimed at dissolving the partially elected Urban Council and Regional Council. The Pro-establishment Camp filibustered along with Michael Suen, then Secretary for Constitutional Affairs, to delay voting on the bill until the following day, ensuring the presence of some pro-Establishment legislators to support the bill's passing.

August 2000: New Zealand parties filibuster Employment Relations Bill

In August 2000, New Zealand opposition parties National and ACT delayed the voting for the Employment Relations Bill by voting slowly, and in some cases in Māori, which required translation into English.

December 2, 2005: Andrew Dismore filibusters Criminal Law (Amendment) (Protection of Property) Bill

On December 2, 2005, Andrew Dismore, Labour MP for Hendon, spoke for three hours and 17 minutes to block a Conservative private member's bill, the Criminal Law (Amendment) (Protection of Property) Bill, which he claimed amounted to "vigilante law".

August 2006: Record Number of Amendments to Gaz de France Law

In August 2006, a record number of 137,449 amendments were submitted by the left-wing opposition to the proposed law concerning Gaz de France. These amendments aimed to prevent the French state's share in Gaz de France from dropping from 80% to 34% in order to allow for the merger between Gaz de France and Suez. The volume of amendments was such that normal parliamentary procedure would have taken 10 years to vote on them all.

October 26, 2006: Tom Lukiwski filibusters Kyoto Accord bill

On October 26, 2006, Tom Lukiwski, a Conservative MP, filibustered for almost 120 minutes to prevent the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development from studying a private member's bill to implement the Kyoto Accord.

2007: Privatisation law in the presidential election

In 2007, the left-wing used the privatisation law of Gaz de France as a political argument in the presidential election. Nicolas Sarkozy had previously promised that the share owned by the French government in Gaz de France would never go below 70%.

February 5, 2008: Tom Lukiwski filibusters election spending inquiry

On February 5, 2008, Tom Lukiwski filibustered for about 6 hours at the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs meetings to block inquiry into allegations that the Conservative Party spent more than the maximum allowable campaign limits during the 2006 Canadian federal election.

February 7, 2008: Tom Lukiwski filibusters election spending inquiry

On February 7, 2008, Tom Lukiwski filibustered for about 6 hours at the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs meetings to block inquiry into allegations that the Conservative Party spent more than the maximum allowable campaign limits during the 2006 Canadian federal election.

July 2008: Reform Restricting Article 49.3 Use

In July 2008, a reform was introduced that restricted the use of Article 49 paragraph 3. Before this reform, Article 49.3 was frequently used, especially when the government lacked a majority in the National Assembly to support the text but still had enough to avoid a no-confidence vote. After the reform, its use was restricted to budgetary measures only, plus one time each ordinary session (i.e. from October to June) on any bill.

December 18, 2009: Filibuster Begins on Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link Funding

On December 18, 2009, legislators of the Pro-democracy Camp began a filibuster during a debate about financing the construction of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link. They raised numerous questions on minor issues, delaying the passing of the bill. Thousands of anti-high-speed rail protesters surrounded the Legislative Council Building during the meetings.

2009: Filibuster of Local Government (Auckland Reorganisation) Bill

In 2009, several parties staged a filibuster of the Local Government (Auckland Reorganisation) Bill in opposition to the government setting up a new Auckland Council — under urgency and without debate or review by the select committee — by proposing thousands of wrecking amendments and voting in Māori as each amendment had to be voted on and votes in Māori translated into English.

January 16, 2010: Filibuster Ends on Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link Funding

On January 16, 2010, the filibuster that began on December 18, 2009, regarding the funding of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link came to an end. Legislators of the Pro-democracy Camp delayed the passing of the bill by raising many questions on minor issues. Thousands of anti-high-speed rail protesters surrounded the Legislative Council Building during the course of the meetings.

December 16, 2010: Werner Kogler's budget committee filibuster

On December 16, 2010, Werner Kogler of the Austrian Green Party filibustered before the budget committee for 12 hours and 42 minutes, criticizing the budget and the governing parties.

June 23, 2011: NDP filibuster against Bill C-6

On June 23, 2011, The New Democratic Party (NDP) initiated a filibuster in the House of Commons of Canada, lasting fifty-eight hours to block the passage of Bill C-6, which would impose a four-year contract on Canada Post workers.

June 25, 2011: NDP filibuster against Bill C-6

On June 25, 2011, The New Democratic Party (NDP) completed a fifty-eight hour filibuster in the House of Commons of Canada, in an attempt to block the passage of Bill C-6, which would impose a four-year contract on Canada Post workers.

May 17, 2012: Debate Terminated on Legislative Council (Amendment) Bill

On the morning of May 17, 2012, Jasper Tsang, the President of the LegCo, terminated the debate on the Legislative Council (Amendment) Bill, citing Article 92 of the Rules of Procedure of LegCo. The bill, which the government attempted to use to forbid lawmakers from participating in by-elections after their resignation, was met with a filibuster involving 1306 amendments submitted by Albert Chan and Wong Yuk-man of People Power. All motions to amend the bill were defeated, and the bill was passed.

2012: Liberal National coalition filibustering

In 2012, Tony Abbott's Liberal National coalition employed filibustering tactics, including suspending standing orders, frequently during question time to obstruct the Labor government.

November 21, 2013: Senate votes to change filibuster rules for nominees

On November 21, 2013, the Democratic-controlled Senate voted 52 to 48 to require only a majority vote to end a filibuster of all executive and judicial nominees, excluding Supreme Court nominees, rather than the three-fifths of votes previously required.

2013: Efforts to Ban Filibuster in Hong Kong

In 2013, Ip Kwok-him of the DAB sought to limit each member to move only one motion, by amending the procedures of the Finance Committee and its two subcommittees, aiming to ban filibusters. In response, all 27 members from the pan-democracy camp submitted 1.9 million amendments. The Secretariat estimated that vetting the motions would require 408 man-months, and voting would take 23,868 two-hour meetings.

2014: Alan Shatter's "Drone Attack" filibuster

In 2014, Justice Minister Alan Shatter performed a filibuster, which was termed a "Drone Attack" due to his perceived monotonous delivery.

2014: David Christopherson filibusters the Fair Elections Act

In early 2014, NDP MP David Christopherson filibustered the government's bill C-23, the Fair Elections Act, at the Procedure and House Affairs Committee, lasting several meetings, including one where he spoke for over 8 hours, to support his motion for cross-country hearings on the bill.

February 23, 2016: South Korean Opposition Filibuster Begins

On February 23, 2016, South Korean opposition lawmakers began a filibuster to stall the Anti-Terrorism bill. They claimed it would give too much power to the National Intelligence Service and lead to invasions of citizens' privacy. The filibuster lasted 193 hours and ended on March 2, with the bill's passing.

April 6, 2017: Senate votes to change filibuster rules for Supreme Court nominees

On April 6, 2017, the Republican-controlled Senate voted 52 to 48 to require only a majority vote to end a filibuster of Supreme Court nominees.

April 2017: Senators support the 60-vote threshold

In April 2017, a broad mix of 61 senators (32 Republicans, 28 Democrats, and one independent) signed a letter stating their support for the 60-vote threshold and their opposition to abolishing the filibuster for legislation.

September 6, 2017: Filibuster to stall the independence referendum

On September 6, 2017, opposition lawmakers in the Catalonian parliament initiated a filibuster with the aim of obstructing the independence referendum.

2017: Opposition filibuster against Liberal government motion

In the spring of 2017, Conservative and NDP Opposition MPs united to filibuster a motion from Government House Leader Bardish Chagger, arguing it was an attempt by the Liberal government to limit the ability of opposition parties to hold the government to account. The filibuster lasted from March 21 until May 2, when the governing Liberals agreed to drop the most controversial elements of their proposal.

November 8, 2021: Jaime Naranjo's 15-Hour Speech

On November 8, 2021, Jaime Naranjo, a deputy from the Socialist Party, spoke for almost 15 hours during the discussion of the impeachment against President Sebastián Piñera in the Chamber of Deputies of Chile. This filibuster allowed for Gonzalo Winter and Giorgio Jackson of the Broad Front, who were in COVID-19 quarantine, and Jorge Sabag, who was in Chillán, to arrive in Congress to participate in the session. Their votes were essential to impeach Piñera.

2021: Arguments for ending the Senate filibuster

In 2021, arguments for ending the Senate filibuster arose due to its historical usage in blocking civil rights legislation, which was described by the Associated Press as racist.

January 19, 2022: Senate vote to change the filibuster fails

On January 19, 2022, the Democratic-controlled Senate voted to change the filibuster. The vote, however, failed 52–48, due to the defection of Democratic Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema.

2022: Senator Cash's nine-hour filibuster

In 2022, Liberal Senator Michaelia Cash conducted a nine-hour filibuster in committee to impede the passage of industrial relations laws.

April 1, 2025: Cory Booker's marathon senate speech

On April 1, 2025, Cory Booker gave the longest senate speech in American history, known as Cory Booker's marathon speech, but this was not a filibuster.

2025: Hakeem Jeffries' record House floor speech

In 2025, Hakeem Jeffries used the magic minute to set a record for the longest speech on the House floor (8 hours and 44 minutes) in opposition to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.