Because of unprecedented abuse of Senate rules, two and a half years into his presidency, President Trump has not been able to put all of his own qualified, confirmable appointees into senior-level positions. This obstructionism has allowed Obama administration holdovers to obstruct and sabotage implementation of his policies (and to leak to the media).

Senate Democrats have cynically exploited the Senate rules allowing 30 hours of debate of each appointee to slow down the staffing of his administration. Finally, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell yesterday pushed through a majority-vote measure that changes those rules, limiting debate to two hours per appointment.

The same trick has been used to limit the confirmation of federal judges, and those rules also have been changed.

Naturally, Politico's coverage of the story is long on Democrat talking points and short on examination of the unprecedented obstructionism of the Dems:

Senate Republicans used the "nuclear option" Wednesday to unilaterally reduce debate time on most presidential nominees, the latest in a series of changes to the fabric of the Senate to dilute the power of the minority. The move by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) immediately paves the way to expedite confirmations of President Donald Trump's judicial and executive branch picks and comes amid deep GOP frustration with Democrats' delays. Future presidents will benefit, too, though McConnell and Trump stand to gain inordinately as they seek to fill 130 District Court vacancies during the 18 months before the 2020 elections.

The lesson for Dems and their media lickspittles is simple: abuse the rules of the Senate, and those rules will be changed.

Image credit: cropped from Donkey Hotey.