Claims of obstruction are hurled every year. But are the actions of Senate Democrats really that much worse than previous years?
In a word: Yes.
Senate Democrats pushed three times as many cloture votes to stall President Donald Trump’s nominees as were pushed during his four previous predecessors’ combined first terms.
As of July 2, the Senate has used the cloture rule to force at least 30 hours of debate on 101 Trump nominees. This is the second year of Trump’s first term. In contrast, the cloture rule was invoked a combined 32 times for nominees of Presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama.