The thing to remember about the filibuster debate currently roiling the Senate is that it has happened before. And not all that long ago.
| ‘It is not easy to prove in a granular, numerical way that GOP obstructionism of nominations in particular is unprecedented, because there are many ways to cut and evaluate the numbers.’ |
In 2005, Republicans were the majority party in the Senate — they had 55 seats, one more than Democrats hold today. The two parties had been fighting a long and ugly war over President George W. Bush‘s judicial nominees. After Bush’s re-election in 2004, Democrats, with just 45 votes, ran out of ways to stop those nominees short of resorting to a filibuster, which was unheard of even by the rough standards of judicial confirmation fights.
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