Last week's overturning of Roe v. Wade (1973) by the U.S. Supreme Court was made possible, at least in some small ways, by what then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D–Nev.) did in November 2013.
Seeking a short-term political win, Reid followed through on what both Democrats and Republicans had taken turns threatening to do for the better part of the past decade: abolishing the filibuster for judicial nominees. And the move did indeed pay some short-term dividends, as Democrats were able to use their Senate majority to push through a bunch of circuit court judicial nominations that had been stalled by GOP filibuster threats.
