The filibuster is a tyranny of the minority in action. A minority of the Chamber (the Senate) can prevent action by the majority. A filibuster could have its place in a Senate that worked and actually adhered to the notion that advise and consent means…. well… advise and consent … instead of thwart and prevent.

Judicial nominees and nominees in general are being blocked by this reactionary GOP because they hate the President and are doing everything in their power to prevent his policy agenda from moving forward. They also know the power that judicial nominees hold and that over time they can sway national discourse (like say on gay marriage, abortion, and other hot button subjects).

Keeping vacancies open undermines judicial administration and means that cases aren’t being addressed in a timely manner. Add the administration positions that the Senate has been refusing to fill because of the filibuster, and you’ve got the GOP party of no by any means possible.

This vote takes away the “filibuster” on certain nominees and certain other specific types of actions. If the GOP still doesn’t like a particular nominee, they can still vote NO, but we’d see just how they stack up and that it’s all partisan hackery on their part.

That isn’t to say that the GOP can’t benefit from this either - as in some time in the dystopian future when the GOP regains control over the Senate but not with a 60+ majority, they could move their nominees through despite opposition from the Democrats.

It works both ways, and in a normally functioning political environment, comity of this sort would rule the day.

But this isn’t a normally functioning political environment. The GOP is engaged in an all-out assault on this President and his agenda by any means necessary, and is poisoning the discourse going forward.