One of Harry Reid's "accomplishments" as Senate Majority leader was to apply the "nuclear option" to appointments of federal judges. Simply put the minority party can not block a vote on a judicial nominee with a filibuster. At the time it happened many said that the Democrats would rue that day because eventually they would be the minority party in the Senate and would have a Republican president. I sure they probably didn't think it would be this soon yet here we are. You think they might regret that move now?

I'm sure some partisans will be rankled by their myopia, but the de facto 60-vote requirement for anything to move in the Senate is one of the absurd externalities of ratcheted up polarization. The constitution stipulates enough hurdles to the process of governing without the Senate further contributing to it out of sheer pettiness. If Democrats want to filibuster a particular nominee, they can do it the old fashioned way. The idea that one Senator can place a hold on a nominee or piece of legislation and demand cloture just to get to an actual vote is untenable.