WASHINGTON -- May 25 -- Common Cause commends the 14 U.S. senators, seven Republicans and seven Democrats, who negotiated for days behind closed doors and reached a last-minute agreement that for now avoids the elimination of Senate filibusters against judicial nominations.

The deal reached Monday night is not a long-term resolution, and it doesn't address how U.S. Supreme Court nominees will be handled. It's reportedly held together by little more than a handshake.

But it represents, as The Washington Post wrote, "a great achievement. It is a demonstration, in an era of increasingly bitter partisanship, of what can still be accomplished through negotiation and the proffer of a modicum of trust across the aisle."

Common Cause hopes that this deal can serve to give moderates in both chambers of Congress the influence and ability to work together in tough spots for the good of the American public.

We tip our hat to the senators who put aside partisan politics and led their chamber back from the brink of "nuclear option:" Republican Sens. John Warner (VA), John McCain (AZ), Olympia Snowe (ME), Susan Collins (ME), Mike DeWine (OH), Lindsey Graham (SC) and Lincoln Chafee (RI). The Democrats are Sens. Robert Byrd (WV), Joseph Lieberman (CT), Ben Nelson (NE), Mark Pryor (AK), Mary Landrieu (LA), Daniel Inouye (HI) and Ken Salazar (CO).

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