Concept application
A filibuster stalls a rural hospital bill
- Unit 2
- 3 points
- About 20 minutes
You read a short scenario about politics and explain how a political institution, behavior or process from the course is at work in it. On the exam: Question 1 of 4 in the free-response section (1 hour 40 minutes for all four, 50% of your score).
The question and its sources
Read the scenario and answer parts A, B, and C.
Scenario
The House of Representatives passed the Rural Hospital Staffing Act by a vote of 251–176. The bill would give federal grants to hospitals in rural areas to hire nurses and emergency-room doctors. Under the rule set by the House Rules Committee, debate on the bill was limited to two hours and no amendments were allowed.
In the Senate, the majority party holds 53 seats. A group of senators from the minority party announced that they would keep debating the bill for as long as it took to stop it from coming to a vote, arguing that the grants would cost too much. The majority leader filed a motion to end debate. The motion failed by a vote of 56–44, and the bill was set aside.
The president, who supports the bill, announced plans to travel to four states whose senators voted against ending debate and to give speeches at rural hospitals there about staff shortages.
Source: Hypothetical scenario
Suggested time: 20 minutes
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Part (a)
1 pointDescribe the procedure the minority-party senators used in the scenario.
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Part (b)
1 pointExplain how a difference between the rules of the House and the rules of the Senate accounts for the bill passing the House but stalling in the Senate.
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Part (c)
1 pointIn the context of the scenario, explain how the president's planned trips could help the bill pass the Senate.
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