So, when Sen. Graham told us that he would accept no deal that fell short of allowing an up or down vote on all nominees, he lied.
In addition, how do we know the Democrats involved in this who agreed to vote for cloture also did not secure agreements from the Republicans involved that they would vote against the confirmation of these nominees, thus defeating them?
We need to wait and see if the republicans in this agreement vote for or against the nominees.
But realise also that the agreement says that the democrats don't promise to vote FOR or AGAINST cloture.
The AGAINST is there for a reason. It may signal an unwritten part of the deal which will prevent a filibuster from being mounted. Note also that the republican part of the agreement alludes to more than the letter of the agreement in promising to not vote for the nuclear option. I presume that if the dems from this group go back on their promises that they couldn't write down, the republicans will renege on the deal.
EXCEPT THAT it is actually true that a good number of republicans did NOT want to vote for the nuclear option. We downplay the effect of this vote, but it was not simply a procedural matter. And even when someone first shoots a nuke at you, you still have to decide whether to accept it, or go for total destruction.
The "nuclear option" was NOT the best way to handle this. A rules change by majority vote at the beginning of the session would have worked.