Not a surprise. I find it interesting the votes he skip are typically ones that are difficult for him. It has been a trend. He doesn’t want blood on his hands.
He skips the vote when his vote would make utterly no difference.
The nomination passed 58 to 36. If Cruz had voted the nomination would have passed 58 to 37.
Since McConnell refuses to reverse Reid's unilateral abolition of the filibuster on judicial nominations the only way to block any of Obama's nominations is for all of the Republicans to vote against them. In this case, 12 RINOs refused to do so.