( CNN ) -- Frustrated Republicans are retaliating for a Democratic play to weaken their hand in opposing presidential nominations , forcing an all-night session into Thursday 's early hours . Votes on judicial and other appointments took place early Thursday morning , part of the fallout after the Democratic majority enforced a rule change to expedite consideration of appointments , the so-called nuclear option . Until last month , longstanding Senate rules required a supermajority of 60 votes to break a filibuster over a presidential nominee . Republicans fiercely opposed the change , which now allows the majority Democrats to break filibusters with 51 votes . Democrats , who hold a 55-45 advantage in the Senate , said Republicans had abused the filibuster privilege around President Barack Obama 's nominations , and the only way for him to staff his second-term administration promptly and move stalled judicial appointments was to speed things up through a rules change . `` The Obama administration and its allies have done just about everything to get what they want , one way or the other -- even fundamentally altering the contours of our democracy when they could n't get their way playing by the rules , '' Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said in floor remarks Wednesday . `` We saw the culmination of that with the majority leader 's power grab in the Senate last month . '' 5 ways life changes in the Senate after nuclear option . Republicans are requiring the marathon session if Democrats want to clear a long list of nominees before leaving for vacation next week . GOP escalation of the rules fight renewed attention to sharp partisan wrangling one day after lawmakers trumpeted a compromise House-Senate budget proposal brokered across party lines . The first vote in the extended session came shortly after 1 a.m . ET as the Senate approved 51-44 Nina Pillard 's nomination on the federal appeals court in Washington . For some , the appointment has been a steppingstone to the Supreme Court . The Senate will continue plowing through the backlog of nominees later Thursday . Senators will vote on the confirmation of Chai Rachel Feldblum to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission . Senate Democrats began enforcing the `` nuclear option '' this week , stoking Republican ire . All-nighters could continue for days . Democratic leaders said they were prepared to stay in session virtually around the clock through Saturday night to confirm a list of 10 nominees to a variety of senior posts . They range from lesser-known appointments -- such as Patricia Wald to the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board -- to critical positions -- such as Jeh Johnson to be homeland security secretary . There are also several federal district court judge appointments on the list as well as nominees to Pentagon posts and the State Department . Customarily , Senate leaders work together so the chamber can conduct its business during more regular hours . But because of strict parliamentary rules , it 's easy for just one senator to hold things up . In this case , the whole GOP conference is upset . What 's the nuclear option ? So why are they working overnights ? According to Senate rules , a certain number of hours of debate can still be demanded by any senator once a filibuster is broken . Known as `` post-cloture debate time '' in Senate parlance , up to eight hours of debate time is allowed for nine of the 10 nominees on Majority Leader Harry Reid 's list . For Johnson , the homeland security nominee , debate can last for 30 hours . Typically , Senate leaders would agree to allow that debate time to run with the Senate out of session . But Republicans are angry about the changes to the filibuster rules and are requiring the Senate to stay in session . Reid accused Republicans of obstructionism . `` It is hard to imagine a more pointless exercise than spending an entire day waiting for a vote whose outcome we already know , '' Reid said about the Pillard nomination . `` But Republicans insist on wasting time simply for the sake of wasting time . It 's no wonder Americans overwhelmingly support the changes Democrats made to the rules last month in order to make the Senate work again . ''
NEW : Senate approves Washington Pillard next week to serve on federal appeals court in Nina . Democrats are angry over rules change that weakens their hand in opposing nominations . The new rules imposed by majority Democrats aim to speed up confirmation . more regular hours session forced by GOP is one way to express frustration and slow the process .