Bob Dole was right. This month, the former Senate Majority Leader told me his beliefs on what would happen with the nuclear option, saying, "I think I may be wrong, but I still think there’s going to be some kind of a deal struck where both sides can interpret it the way they want." Indeed, a deal has been struck (and you can read it as a PDF courtesy of Political Wire). (To read about the dealings of the middle 14, check out Sheryl Gay Stolberg's very interesting piece in The New York Times.)

To begin the roundup of the days events, we turn to Geoff Earle of The Hill.

A group of 14 Republicans and Democrats have reached a deal that will avert the use of the so-called "nuclear option" to end the judicial filibuster - at least for a time.

The deal would "pull this institution back from the precipice," according to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who helped broker the deal.

The senators - seven from each party, mainly centrists - signed on to the agreement after a meeting in McCain's office Monday evening.

The deal commits the senators to voting for cloture to cut off debate on the three best-known and most-controversial nominees: Priscilla Owen, Janice Rogers Brown, and William Pryor.

[...]

The deal, however, appears to stop short of Frist's demand that all judicial nominees get an up or down vote. Signatories make "no commitment" to vote for or against cloture for two other stalled nominees: William Myers, and Henry Saad.

Kevin Drum reports that at least one of the three nominees -- Owen, Brown or Pryor -- will be voted down by a bipartisan majority. The New York Times' Carl Hulse adds this tidbit about the deal.

Democratic officials said an unwritten aspect of the pact is that two nominees not named in the deal - Brett Kavanaugh and William J. Haynes - would not be confirmed and would be turned aside either at the committee level or on the floor.

Richard W. Stevenson, also writing for The Times, declares the deal "a modest victory for Bush," but notes that

by explicitly exempting from the agreement two additional judges opposed by Democrats, it did not meet Mr. Bush's oft-stated demand that all his nominees get a vote, and it did not foreclose the possibility that Democrats could block an eventual nominee to the Supreme Court, a matter of intense concern to the White House.

Lindsey Graham came out looking great, and John McCain was also a big winner. The Democrats, while not getting everything they wanted, must be pleased by the deal simply for the fact that Frist had backed himself into a corner in which victory could only occur if every judge was confirmed. To get an idea of this, check out Crooks and Liars' roundup oif the response of the right and left blogosphere.

[Update 8:53 PM Pacific]: The Washington Post's Dan Balz calls the deal "an extraordinary moment for the moderates in Congress," but also says that "[a]t best the group produced a cease-fire in the judicial wars."