Heidi Alexander: “my point is that the charge is that Republicans had been denying President Obama his nominations by filibuster. Not on…”

“my point is that the charge is that Republicans had been denying President Obama his nominations by filibuster. Not on the Supreme Court, not to his Cabinet, and no district judges, I say to my colleagues. How many in the history of the country have ever been denied their seats by a failed cloture vote, including President Obama? The answer is zero. That is very interesting. So what is the reason for this? Well, let's go on. Maybe it was some other nomination that caused such a problem that would justify this dangerous restructuring of the Senate rules. Let's go to the sub-Cabinet category. These are all the executive appointments below the Cabinet level. How many of those have been denied? Under President Clinton, the Senate rejected two nominees of his by a cloture vote. Under George W. Bush, it was three. Under President Obama, it has been two. So in the history of the Senate, the cloture vote has been used to deny seven Presidential nominees their seat, including two for President Obama. Let's go to the one area where there has been a little bit more; that is, the circuit judges. Remember, on the Supreme Court, never; district judges, never; Cabinet member, never; but circuit judges, yes. There have been 10 instances where Presidential nominees for the Federal circuit courts of appeals have been denied their seats because of a failed cloture vote--that is a filibuster--five Democrats, five Republicans. How did this happen?…”