          A group of junior Senate Democrats pushed Reid to pass
broad reforms -- including reinstating the requirement that
senators conducting a filibuster speak continuously on the floor
-- by using a controversial method to change the body's rules
that Republicans called the "nuclear option." That method to
change the Senate rules would require just 51 votes instead of
the 67 customarily required.   The measure went to a vote and
passed without Democrats invoking the "nuclear option."  "No
party has ever broken the rules of the Senate to change those
rules. I'm glad such an irreparably damaging precedent will not
be set today," McConnell said in a statement as the vote became
clear. "We've avoided the nuclear option, and we've reiterated
that any changes to the Standing Rules of the Senate still
require 67 votes to end debate."   President Barack Obama issued
a statement after the vote saying he hoped "today's bipartisan
agreement will pave the way for the Senate to take meaningful
action in the days and