For years, members of the minority party in the Senate have log-jammed the appointment process by being able to place secret holds on candidates without ever having to justify their decisions.

As this has been a practice which has angered both sides of the aisle, it is surprising that is has taken so long to rise to the surface and actually receive legislative attention.

Sen. McCaskill (MO) recently announced that she had the requisite number of votes to pass legislation ending this practice that has caused large numbers of potential nominees to be held up indefinitely, often for no other reason than party affiliation.

This practice received significant coverage when it was hinted at that Sen. Shelby (AL) recently had held up 70 nominations with such a vote, without having to either acknowledge his actions or provide a rationale.

With the levels of animosity and child-like behavior eminating from all sides in Washington, removing this punitive roadblock is something that should have happened a long time ago, and hopefully will be passed quickly to end further instances of this banal practice.