Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) was pretty much the key to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's being able to secure enough Democratic votes to end the filibuster on nominations. Leahy, as the current longest-serving member of the Senate, had been a hold-out on the reform. But the degree of obstruction from Republicans brought him to the breaking point, and beyond. He's ready, apparently, to keep on reforming in
his committee.
“Just last week, Republicans prevented the Judiciary Committee from holding an executive business meeting to consider 18 highly qualified nominees, including two Texas U.S. Marshals. Those two nominees should have been approved by the Committee last month, but Republicans failed to attend the meeting to report their nominations. As Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, I have consistently shown my commitment to work with all Senators to process nominations,” Leahy said in a statement. “This obstruction sets back the bipartisan cooperation we have seen in recent weeks on such legislative matters as the budget, the defense authorization bill, and the Farm Bill. If this obstruction continues with respect to judicial nominees, I will be forced to reconsider long-held policies that have upheld the rights of the minority party in this process.” [...]
“Home state Senators were consulted with respect to the nominees scheduled to appear before the Committee today who, when confirmed, will fill vacancies in California, Maine and Maryland, and an emergency vacancy in Kansas,” Leahy said. “The families of these nominees invested time and personal expense to travel to Washington for this hearing, losses they will never recover. This escalating obstruction undermines the Senate’s constitutional responsibility of advice and consent.”
There's little point in the Senate now being able to approve nominees with a simple up-or-down vote on the floor if they can't get out of committee because Republicans are blocking them. Leahy has great latitude in whether or not he follows the traditions of the committee, like the blue slip. That's the tradition by which home-state senators signal their approval of a nominee. If the blue slips aren't returned, then by tradition, the nomination doesn't go forward. But it doesn't have to be that way, and shouldn't be if senators are using blue slips just as political tools and not as a means of keeping unqualified nominees off the bench.
So far, Leahy's been respecting the blue slip tradition. It looks like he's just given notice that he's done with that.