[Dave W]

But it’s not done by fiat. It has to be voted on to bring it to the floor.

[Wizdum]

Under Special Orders the nominees can be brought to the Senate floor without committee vote. It takes 60 to be able to use this procedure, and it would fail, but it would put the Dems on notice that the rules only work for them for so long.....
And who knows....the pressure on some for re-election may cause them to break with the party to vote to go ahead.
That would put pressure on the missing Dems to do their jobs.