Senators also filibustered the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for two months until 71 senators eventually came together for a cloture vote.
Recent decades have seen the filibuster's influence over all types of legislation grow, causing frustrated majorities to createexceptions for when the practice can be used.
In 1975, the number of votes needed to invoke cloture was brought down to the 60-vote threshold required to break a filibuster today. Later years brought minor limits on debate after a filibuster was ended.
Starting in the 1990s, the filibuster progressively became a tool of the minority party to thwart the policy ambitions of the majority.
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