Who Used the Filibuster More?

8 Things to Learn for 2/2/2009 #8

Who used the filibuster more: the Democrats when they were the minority party with a Republican President, or the Republicans when they were the minority party with a Republican President? An interesting question. Certainly, the Republican majority was highly upset with the Democratic minority, even threatening the nuclear option which would have eliminated the minority's right to filibuster judicial nominations. 

What do the numbers say? Well, in the 110th Congress which featured the Republicans in the minority, there were 104 cloture votes as of Oct. 3rd last year. In the 109th Congress which featured a Democratic minority, there were 54 votes.

What have we learned? We have learned that when the Republicans are in the minority, they are the party that uses every trick in the book to prevent the government from helping the American people.