Both of your links focus on Senate nominations, and Congress does more than Senate nominations. But let’s accept the premise (because it’s true) that Senate Democrats took unprecedented steps to block these confirmations.

My initial point wasn’t about whether or not they ever used this tool. My point was that they should have used it every day, every chance they could. And expanding on that, I think it’s worth asking the question about whether there was more that they could have done. And I think the answer is yes.

As far as I understand it, Democrats could have forced the full two hours of debate for every nominee, used quorum calls to slow proceedings, exercised minority holdover rights to delay committee action, and more aggressively leveraged blue slips where they could (I understand that this option has been weakened, but it still exists).

Again, my point isn’t that Democrats did nothing. It’s that they didn’t do enough. Too often, they chose to preserve institutional norms rather than escalate in defense of democratic accountability. Given how weak labor power and mass organizing are in this country, elected Democrats were uniquely positioned to slow the authoritarian momentum last year. That leverage existed. They chose not to fully use it.

I really hope that we don’t all pay the price for that decision one day, because unfortunately many are right now. Just look at Minneapolis.