So you’d think that under Trump there would’ve been more successful filibusters than ever given Democratic opposition.

Nope.

The vast majority of cloture votes passed — the Senate already nuked the filibuster for things Republicans care about

During the Trump era, there were an historic number of cloture motions filed in the Senate: 529 of them. 466 of them got votes — 93% of them passed

Compare to Obama’s first term: only 70% passed the first half, 57% in the second

https://t.co/JPYS0zfDjo
Why? In 2013, Senate Dems nuked the 60 vote threshold to get past a filibuster on nominees, except for SCOTUS, but left it for legislation

But when controlling Congress and the WH, the GOP didn’t move much legislation. They got what they wanted anyway

https://t.co/JPYS0zfDjo
So when Mitch McConnell says “no no, you have to keep the filibuster for legislation” it’s because he knows that it doesn’t matter when the GOP is a majority

The filibuster isn’t a useful tool for Democratic minorities — just Republicans

https://t.co/JPYS0zfDjo
This essay is brought to you by several hours of combing through cloture motions for this spreadsheet, which shows a major drop in the filibuster blocking cloture after 2013 — with one exception highlighted, which I’ll explain in a second
That spike is from Obama’s last two years in office, when Rs controlled Congress. But a major caveat: those were almost all cloture votes on legislation, which still needed 60 votes

McConnell brought almost no Obama nominees to the floor in that time.
That’s the period when Merrick Garland couldn’t even get a vote. It’s also when McConnell kept all the seats that he filled in the next two rows of the chart in under Trump.

He knows that his goals don’t need filibuster reform.

https://t.co/JPYS0zfDjo
Judges and tax cuts! That’s all the GOP really pushed for in the Senate over the last four years, neither of which can be filibustered.

Compare that to Democrats, who need legislation to pass.

It’s totally unbalanced now.

https://t.co/JPYS0zfDjo
A final caveat: it’s impossible to know what Republicans would have passed for sure without the filibuster for legislation. Cloture votes aren’t an exact predictor for a filibuster taking place.

But consider this: you didn’t hear much complaining from the GOP then, did you?

More from Trump

Trump: Day 1,407 (THREAD)
-13,454,254 Cases of COVID-19 in US
-US CV-19 Death Toll Rises to 271,026
-Day 20 Since Biden Declared Winner
-Day 424 at a Trump-owned Property
-Touts Assassination of Iran Scientist
-Appointed Judge Rejects PA Lawsuit
-$3M Recount Increases Biden Lead


https://t.co/hOfTV6hRNx


https://t.co/KYBIm6Qohw


https://t.co/Bj5tluZ5dh


https://t.co/Q9YG4btKvH
Long thread: Because I couldn’t find anything comprehensive, I’m just going to post everything I’ve seen in the news/Twitter about Trump’s activities related to the Jan 6th insurrection. I think the timing & context of his actions/inactions will matter a lot for a senate trial.

12/12: The earlier DC protest over the electoral college vote during clearly inspired Jan 6th. On Dec 12th, he tweeted: “Wow! Thousands of people forming in Washington (D.C.) for Stop the Steal. Didn’t know about this, but I’ll be seeing them! #MAGA.”


12/19: Trump announces the Jan. 6th event by tweeting, “Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!” Immediately, insurrectionists begin to discuss the “Wild Protest.” Just 2 days later, this UK political analyst predicts the violence


12/26-27: Trump announces his participation on Twitter. On Dec. 29, the FBI sends out a nationwide bulletin warning legislatures about attacks https://t.co/Lgl4yk5aO1


1/1: Trump tweets the time of his protest. Then he retweets “The calvary is coming” on Jan. 6!” Sounds like a war? About this time, the FBI begins visiting right wing extremists to tell them not to go--does the FBI tell the president? https://t.co/3OxnB2AHdr

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