It gets even more backwards - any Senator at any time can declare a Senate rule is being violated by a filibuster and ask a presiding officer (e.g. another senator, usually committee chairs) to fix the violation by prohibiting filibusters under those circumstances going forward. If that presiding officer disagrees, the Senator can ask for the full chamber to vote on it, and if 50+1 Senators disagree with the presiding officer the new rule regarding filibusters goes into effect.
The Senate is filled with arcane rules from the 1800’s that I’m convinced only five people actually understand. They get most of their work done with unanimous consent, because using the actual rules is too hard.
It gets even more backwards - any Senator at any time can declare a Senate rule is being violated by a filibuster and ask a presiding officer (e.g. another senator, usually committee chairs) to fix the violation by prohibiting filibusters under those circumstances going forward. If that presiding officer disagrees, the Senator can ask for the full chamber to vote on it, and if 50+1 Senators disagree with the presiding officer the new rule regarding filibusters goes into effect.
To sum that up in a sentence, “by following the right steps in a particular parliamentary circumstance, a simple majority of senators can establish a new interpretation of a Senate rule” and kill the filibuster whenever they want.
The Senate is filled with arcane rules from the 1800’s that I’m convinced only five people actually understand. They get most of their work done with unanimous consent, because using the actual rules is too hard.