If you’re wondering why Dems are all of a sudden smitten with the idea of reforming Senate rules, check out this chart, passed along by a Democratic source.
Over the last two years, Dems broke more filibusters than any Senate in recorded history. In fact the only other Senate that comes close was the last Senate, right after the GOP lost its controlling majority on the Hill.
Perhaps because their majority was so large, Democrats actually had to take fewer steps to break filibusters this Senate than in 2007-2008. In the 111th, Harry Reid filed 136 cloture petitions, down three from the 110th. And according to Senate record keeper, Dems held fewer votes to invoke cloture this Congress than last — 91 compared to 112.
That may make stories about incoming class of Democrats toying with the idea of modifying some of the Senate’s rules more explicable.
Update: A graph showing the filibuster trends is below:
Brian Beutler
Brian Beutler is TPM's senior congressional reporter. Since 2009, he's led coverage of health care reform, Wall Street reform, taxes, the GOP budget, the government shutdown fight, and the debt limit fight. He can be reached at brian@talkingpointsmemo.com.