I wondered that too, until I looked at Sen Saxby Chambliss' role in the whole.
As a Senator from Georgia he can put holds on nominees from his state
Sen Chambliss put him on the list of names he'd approve of going forward. By putting his name as one of the nominees, all Obama's nominees would get the okay to move forward.
Chambliss never insisted they all get approved, just that they get submitted.
He failed to get approved. The White House won't resubmit.
The others got hearings and voted on

print of the deal, the GOP just read the headline. The replacement will have lifetime tenure.

The way you lay it out it sounds like smart--if unsavory--politics.

I did know he was part of a "package deal", but not that it was a deal that was not intended to be fully honored. Again, my hat is off, that's damn good politics.

Much appreciated!

at this "nomination". More on this, thank you, rpannier..

snip//

It’s important to note that the president didn’t really want to nominate Boggs, so this isn’t exactly an example of Senate Democrats betraying the White House. Boggs was included as part of a compromise reached with Republican senators from Georgia, as part of a deal on blue slips (for more on what a blue slip is, see our coverage from March).

But Democrats in the upper chamber weren’t part of that agreement and were under no obligations to honor it.

MOre facts..
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/senate-dems-derail-boggs-nomination

From Dec 31, 2014 in LBN.. http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014977274#post43