Republicans Prepare for Battle Over Judicial Nominees
By: Administrative Account | Source: CNSNews.com
October 28, 2003 4:07PM EST

By Robert B. Bluey
CNSNews.com Staff Writer
October 28, 2003

(CNSNews.com) - Senate Republicans plan to begin actively fighting this week for several of President Bush's stalled judicial nominees in an effort to turn up the heat on Democrats who oppose their confirmations.

Up until now, Republicans appeared to be losing the struggle against Democrats, who have successfully blocked the confirmations of former Justice Department attorney Miguel Estrada, Texas Supreme Court Justice Priscilla Owen and Alabama Attorney General Bill Pryor.

Estrada, a Hispanic lawyer nominated for a seat on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, even withdrew himself from consideration after Republicans failed seven times to shore up the 60 votes need to cut off debate in the Senate.

But with the Senate quickly approaching a mid-November recess, syndicated columnist Robert Novak reported Monday that Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) plans a three-phased approach to confirm five judges, starting this week with U.S. District Judge Charles Pickering Sr. of Mississippi for a seat on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

If Republicans are unsuccessful, Frist would eventually attempt to change Senate rules by requiring only a simple majority to confirm a judicial nominee. Novak reported that a vote on the so-called "nuclear option" would likely take place in 2004.

At that time, President Bush would be in the midst of his re-election campaign, and as Novak reported, Republicans would be able to energize their conservative base around the issue.

"I believe the Democrats' obstruction was a factor in determining the way several Senate races went last year," said John Nowacki, director of legal policy at the conservative Free Congress Foundation. "It will be a big issue for conservative voters next year."

Critics of Bush's nominees said it is unfortunate that Republicans would try to capitalize on the issue for political gain. Judy Appelbaum, vice president of the National Women's Law Center, which opposes several nominees, predicted that such a political strategy would backfire.

"The more the public looks at the merits of the nominations and at the extreme views of the nominees who are being blocked, the more the public is going to be horrified," Appelbaum said.

Turning the nomination battle into a political issue isn't a new strategy. Bush has repeatedly brought it up in speeches, and the conservative Committee for Justice has been warning Democrats for months that it would target them in next year's elections if they continued to block the president's nominees.

Sean Rushton, the group's executive director, complimented Frist on his handling of the issue. He said Republicans were in a good position, despite their difficulties confirming nominees.

"The majority leader deserves huge credit for sticking with this issue, for having a long-term strategy on it, for understanding this is a marathon, not a sprint," Rushton said. "Both in the pubic relations war and in the procedural and parliamentary war within the Senate, Frist understands he needs to feed the Democrats the rope with which to hang themselves."

Even though Democrats have appeared victorious at this stage, Rushton likened it to winning the first few battles of a war. He said Bush would ultimately prevail.

Along the way, however, Republicans are likely to suffer a string of defeats on the Senate floor. Pickering could get a vote in the next few days, but he is unlikely to have the 60 votes needed to cut off debate. Meanwhile, Owen's nomination to the 5th Circuit and Pryor's nomination to the 11th Circuit would again be brought up for votes.

Republicans are facing at least two other battles. California Superior Court Judge Carolyn Kuhl and California Supreme Court Justice Janice Rogers Brown are expected to face filibuster threats. Kuhl is nominated for a seat on the 9th Circuit, and Brown, who is awaiting approval from the Judiciary Committee, would fill a seat on the D.C. Circuit.

For critics of Bush's nominees, Frist's strategy was of little surprise. Marcia Kuntz, director of the Judicial Selection Project at the liberal Alliance for Justice, said she wishes that Democrats had blocked more nominations.

"The White House refuses to respect the Senate's co-equal role in this process," Kuntz said. "They nominate extremist people without consulting senators, and they expect them to rubber-stamp the nominees."

Nancy Zirkin, deputy director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, warned that the "right-wing base" wants to reduce the federal government's authority by installing judges sympathetic to states' rights. She defended the Democrats for blocking nominees.

"For a number of years, the right wing of the Republican Party has dreamed about taking over the courts," Zirkin said. "The agenda of the right is clear, and now the right has seeped into the White House."

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