The Senate has never been as un-democratic as it was in 2017–2018, and minority rule could continue in 2019 for nominations

An analysis of Senate votes from 1789–2018 shows the slim margins in 2017 and 2018 were unprecedented.

The U.S. Constitution created the United States Senate with equal representation — two senators — from each of the country’s states, despite the wide variation in population from state to state. Fair or not, throughout the country’s history the Senate typically passed legislation, nominations, and other matters with broad support. Most votes passed with around 68% of senators voting yes, with those senators representing about 68% of the U.S. population. If the allotment of senators was unfair in principle, it seems to have been fair in practice.

But 2017 was an unprecedented year. In 2017, for the first time, the Senate’s decisions were often made by a coalition of states representing less than half of the country’s population. The median share of senators supporting passed bills, confirmed judges and agency leaders, and other matters dropped to 58% (the lowest since 1930), with those senators representing just 49.5% of the U.S. population (the lowest ever)!