Senate leaders on Tuesday lauded a compromise on presidential nominations that averted a fight that was likely to thrust the chamber into partisan chaos.

Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., in separate news conferences made official what was known on Capitol Hill throughout the morning and early afternoon: Democrats withdrew plans to employ the so-called nuclear option to change Senate rules and eliminate the minority’s ability to filibuster President Obama’s nominees and Republicans agreed to release their objection to five of seven long-delayed nominations Obama sent to the Hill months ago.