Lower courts had dismissed the lawsuit and said Common Cause and the lawmakers couldn’t sue over Senate rules, reasoning in part that the Senate has constitutional authority to set its own procedures.

The lawsuit was brought in 2012 in response to immigration and election procedures bills that died in the Senate when they didn’t receive the 60 votes needed to overcome filibusters. Both measures passed the House in 2010 and had majority support in the Senate.

Under Senate rules, a minority can in many instances prolong debate indefinitely, effectively killing legislation, unless a 60-member supermajority votes otherwise. Democrats last year changed the rules for most presidential nominations, easing passage for executive branch jobs and judicial posts except for the Supreme Court.

One of the bills, known as the Dream Act, would have made some illegal immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children eligible for citizenship. The Disclose Act, conceived in response to the 2010 Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, would have expanded disclosure of the sources of political spending.

The plaintiffs, including U.S. Reps. John Conyers of Michigan, Keith Ellison of Minnesota, Hank Johnson of Georgia and Michael Michaud of Maine, represented by the activist group Common Cause, argued that the filibuster’s supermajority requirement frustrated the constitutional structure providing for majority rule in Congress.

Corrections & Amplifications

The lawsuit was brought in 2012. A previous version of the story incorrectly said it was brought in 2010.

(Published by The Wall Street Journal - November 3, 2014)