[USNBandit]

changing parliamentary rules that would cut the necessary confirmation vote for judges from 60 to a mere majority.

Is this statement accurate? My understanding was that the Dems were threatening to filibuster if the Republicans brought up the judges for a vote. I thought the filibuster required 60 votes to break and then the judges required a simple majority for confirmation.

If I recall correctly the filibuster rules have been altered quite a bit over the years to make it easier to block votes.

[LibertarianInExile]

You were correct up until the last statement. The filibuster rules have been changed to make it HARDER to block votes, to my understanding. The cloture vote used to have to be 2/3rds, and now it's only 3/5ths.