“Everyone always underestimates the power of the calendar,” said Jim Manley, a former Senate Democratic leadership aide who spent more than two decades on the Hill. “Under the rules of the Senate, days quickly turn into weeks, which can turn into months, with not a lot of action being taken.”

“It’s such a morass,” said Ian Millhiser, a senior fellow with the left-leaning Center for American Progress, who has written much on the mechanics of congressional obstructionism. “It makes you want to cry.”

By far the most infamous stalling mechanism is the filibuster, which prevents the Senate from voting on an issue without the support of at least 60 members. Senators really love the filibuster––possibly more than they love their spouses, their children, their donors. (OK. Maybe not their donors.) But in some cases, a filibuster is not allowed (as with the confirmation of most presidential appointees), too politically fraught (think: Ted Cruz reading Green Eggs and Ham), or otherwise unadvisable. No matter. Lesser-known foot-dragging tactics include:

Forcing a roll call vote (versus a quickie voice vote) on even routine business.

Demanding extra paperwork for nominees, along with extra time to peruse said paperwork.

Introducing multiple “points of order” claiming that the majority is somehow acting in violation of Senate rules. (Even totally meritless points of order are terrific time sucks.)

Requiring bills or amendments to be read aloud (a rule routinely waived to keep the entire body from grinding to a halt). In 2009, the Republican minority in both chambers used this gimmick on a couple of memorable occasions. Millhiser recalled, “One of the most bonkers parts of the Affordable Care Act debate was when Republicans threatened to, every time a new amendment to the bill came up, require the whole thing to be read aloud on the senate floor.” (Senate clerks got about three hours into a 767-page amendment by Bernie Sanders before Sanders pulled it.) That spring, when Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee threatened to demand the reading of a 900-page climate change bill, Democrats hired a professional speed-reader to stand by, just in case.

Committees can be monkeyed with as well. Senate committees cannot conduct business without a quorum of members present. (What constitutes a quorum varies by committee.) If they get desperate, Democrats could start skipping out on meetings, stalling the progress of nominees and legislation alike.

Alternatively, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer could upend the scheduling of all such meetings. There has long been a rule stipulating that, without the express consent of both the majority and minority leaders, neither committees nor subcommittees can meet “after the conclusion of the first two hours after the meeting of the Senate commenced and in no case after the two o’clock postmeridian.” (Once upon a time, important debates actually took place on the Senate floor, so members were discouraged from missing the action.) If Schumer wanted to be a stickler about scheduling, he could throw the system into chaos.