The author of this article didn’t explain the difference between abstaining and voting no. I guess abstaining is not the same as voting no? In other words if they abstain, then there are only 98 votes and only 49 are needed for confirmation?
If it is the “plurality of the Senators voting” and all cast a vote -including abstentions- the decision will be based on 51 votes for or against.
Abstentions are votes and do not get removed from the total.
The best thing for these GOP weak sisters to do is simply stay home and don’t show up for a vote.