Don't be fooled. The dems know that if they fillibuster, they will lose that tool for lower court nominations. Moreover, fillibustering such a high profile nominee would be the wrong move. Still, The kook ba$e demands a fillibuster. Thus, there would be absolute HELL for the dems to pay if there were enough votes to maintain the buster, but it was not done.
So, certain dems (preferably one's that the kook base will vote for no matter what) are standing up and saying no to fillibustering. Cover is provided, the kooks are less angry (marginally) and the lower court nominees remain screwed.
how many lower court appointments are held up? it may take another gang of 14 deal to get some of them through.