Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) pushed forward a vote to allow presidential nominations to go forward with a simple majority vote.
The vote was 52 to 48, mainly along party lines. Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV), Mark Pryor (D-AR) and Carl Levin (D-MI) voted against changing the rules.
Roll Call says the “new precedent represents what’s likely to prove the most
significant change in Senate rules since 1975, when the cloture
threshold was reduced to 60 votes in most cases (from two-thirds of
senators present and voting).”