cloture

noun clo·ture \ ˈklō-chər \

Updated on: 13 Apr 2018

Definition of cloture

: the closing or limitation of debate in a legislative body especially by calling for a vote

—

cloture

transitive verb

Recent Examples of cloture from the Web

Such objections trigger a cloture vote, which then sets off 30 hours of floor debate.

— the editorial board, WSJ, "Breaking the Schumer Stall," 27 Mar. 2018
Vote that would advance McCains-Coons bill fails A vote on cloture that would have advanced a bill from Sens.

— kathryn watson, CBS News, "Senate begins voting on immigration bills," 15 Feb. 2018
Vice-President Pence broke a 49-49 tie vote over a cloture motion to cut off debate over Kansas governor Sam Brownback’s confirmation as ambassador-at-large for International Religious Freedom.

— ed kilgore, Daily Intelligencer, "Good News for Kansas: Governor Brownback to Be Confirmed for Ambassadorship," 24 Jan. 2018
Forty-five of 49 Senate Democrats (92 percent) voted against cloture and, thus, to shutter the government.

— deroy murdock, National Review, "The 92 Percent Schumer Shutdown Is Now 100 Percent Kaput," 23 Jan. 2018
Senate Republicans filed for cloture on Brownback’s nomination Monday and faced no objections.

— bryan lowry and lindsay wise, kansascity, "U.S. Senate could vote on Brownback’s nomination this week | The Kansas City Star," 22 Jan. 2018
Voting no: Maria Cantwell, D, Patty Murray, D Funding resolution cloture motion: On a vote of 50-49, the Senate blocked a bill to fund the government from Jan. 20 through Feb. 16 while renewing the Children’s Health Insurance Program for six years.

— thomas voting reports, The Seattle Times, "How Your U.S. Lawmaker Voted," 20 Jan. 2018
Democratic obstruction against nominees is nearly total, most notably including a demand for cloture filings for every nominee—no matter how minor the position.

— the editorial board, WSJ, "Running the Schumer Blockade," 10 July 2017
The political scientists and others can crunch the numbers and see how many filibusters there have been, how many cloture motions have been filed.

— bastien inzaurralde, Washington Post, "This former parliamentarian says the Senate is broken and he knows how to fix it," 5 Nov. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'cloture.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.