The Democrats had the trifecta and did absolutely nothing I didn't get that. I remember them being filibustered by McConnell every step of the way. They just had a auto filibuster, so if the Democrats couldn't muster 60 votes to start something, they couldn't even bring something to the floor. The GOP somehow blocked Al Franken from taking office until late July of 2009, by doing recounts and it was a special election. And Kennedy died in August. There were 3 weeks, during the summer vacation, when the Democrats had the filibuster-proof majority.