changed four times, each time by a Democratic majority. In 1917, cloture was introduced for legislative debates, allowing a two-thirds vote to end debate (before then, there was no mechanism to stop even a single senator from filibustering indefinitely). In 1949, the cloture rule was extended from legislative debates to nominations. In 1975, the majority needed for cloture was dropped from two-thirds to three-fifths. And in 2013, the filibuster was abolished for all judicial and executive nomination votes except for Supreme Court justices. Yet while Senate minorities have zealously guarded their power to filibuster Supreme Court nominees, that power has been used to stop a nomination only once, in 1968. Every other time a nomination has been tabled or defeated, it has been done by the action ofnominee, and the Senate majority; the percentage of votes cast (where available) against each nominee; and the ultimate disposition of the nomination. Orange refers to nominations made the year before the end of a presidential term, green to ones made in the final year, and purple to lame-duck nominations.

Congress’s sessions tended to be fairly brief in the early years, which explains why there were so many recess appointments in this period.

The next table provides a more granular look at the dates during the year when each nomination occurred. “Since Nom” is the time (in days) from nomination to resolution (confirmation or rejection/withdrawal), and “Since Vac” is the time to those points from the original vacancy. In considering lame-duck nominations, bear in mind that before the 20th Amendment was