Chubbing

Chubbing is a common name for a political practice used to slow down, or even block, a bill (or other bills) from passing.

It is similar to the filibuster but differs in that, whereas a filibuster involves one person speaking for as long as possible (in legislative chambers which do not have strict time limits on discussions), chubbing can involve several tactics used, such as:

• opponents raising numerous points of order against a bill
• opponents offering numerous amendments to water down, or even gut, the bill's purpose (one common tactic is to offer an amendment to "strike the enacting clause", which essentially turns a bill into nothing more than a resolution)
• opponents taking the full amount of allotted time to speak against a bill, commonly engaging in questions with either the bill's author or a bill's supporter (although a person is not required to yield for questions to an opponent, generally they do so as to keep a sense of congeniality among members), but also engaging in questions with another opponent
• seeking reconsideration or verification of a vote

The practice is most commonly used in legislative bodies which do not meet full time, such as the Texas House of Representatives, which only meets every other year for 140 days and also cannot call itself into special session.