WASHINGTON — After months-long threats and last-minute deals to avoid a major rules change in the Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid led the chamber in eliminating the 60-vote majority needed to vote on most presidential nominations.

The vote began at a little past noon, with 52 Democrats voting to eliminate the 60-vote threshold needed to invoke cloture and avoid a filibuster — a threshold that Democrats said has kept too many of President Obama's nominees from a final vote in the Senate.

Democratic Sens. Carl Levin, Joe Manchin and Mark Pryor voted against the rule change. No Republicans voted for the change.

Sen. Patrick Leahy, the chair of the Judiciary Committee, was presiding over the Senate and announced the ruling of the chair that, following the vote, a simple majority vote is sufficient for all nominations other than those to the Supreme Court.

"The change made today guarantees that all judicial and executive branch nominees, except Supreme Court nominees, can be confirmed with simple up-or-down votes. This change will apply to all future presidents, Democrat or Republican," a memo from Reid's office sent to the media Thursday stated.

Thursday morning's session opened up with Reid declaring that there had been "unbelievable, unprecedented obstruction" on the part of Senate Republicans in blocking President Barack Obama's judicial nominees and cabinet appointments.

"Consistent and unprecedented obstruction by the Republican caucus has turned advise and consent into deny and obstruct. In addition to filibustering a nominee for Secretary of Defense for the first time in history, Senate Republicans also blocked a sitting member of Congress from an administration position for the first time since 1843," Reid said.

Minority Leader Mitch McConnell responded by accusing Reid and Senate Democrats of creating a "fake fight" over judicial nominations in order to distract from the problems with the rollout of the health care law.

"Millions of Americans are hurting because of a law Washington Democrats forced upon them, and what do they do about it? They cook up some fake fight over judges, a fake fight over judges that aren't even needed," McConnell said. "Look I get it. As I indicated, I'd want to be talking about something else too."