The Filibuster Express

Wall Street Journal ^ | July 21, 2004 | Editorial

[OESY]

Democrats began their seventh filibuster of a Bush judicial nominee yesterday. No Senate has ever filibustered a President's appellate-court nominee before, but never mind. Watch for the number of filibusters to hit double digits by September.

The latest victim is William Myers, a nominee from Idaho for the Ninth Circuit. Mr. Myers had the misfortune to work in the Bush Interior Department, a job that comes with the liberal label of "extremist." Democrats are using his nomination as an opportunity to bash the Bush Administration on the environment.

The Constitution requires a majority of Senators to confirm a President's judicial selections, and Mr. Myers -- like the six other filibusterees -- would be confirmed by a bipartisan majority if the Senate were permitted to hold a vote. Fifty-three Senators, including Democrats Joe Biden and Ben Nelson, voted yesterday to let Mr. Myers's name go to the floor. Forty-three Democrats and "Independent" James Jeffords refused to let that happen. John Kerry and John Edwards missed the Myers vote, but their support of the filibuster tactic is well-established -- a fact that will boomerang against their nominees if they win this fall.

We hear that the ranking Democrat on Judiciary, Vermont's Pat Leahy, has let it be known that 99 is the maximum number of judges he'll let through this year. That's one short of the 100 -- 83 district court judges and 17 (out of 32 nominations) for appeals courts -- confirmed during the previous Congress, when Mr. Leahy chaired Judiciary. Mr. Leahy wants to be able to boast that he confirmed more Bush judges than the current Chairman, Republican Orrin Hatch. This Congress has so far confirmed 98 -- 79 to district courts and 18 to the appeals bench. How's that for statesmanship?

Mr. Hatch has, alas, made Mr. Leahy's obstructionism easier. The Utah Senator has angered fellow Republicans by slow-marching several nominees through committee. Claude Allen, an African-American nominee for the Fourth Circuit and a White House priority, has been waiting for a vote since his October hearing. Mr. Hatch's support for his friend Thomas Griffith for the D.C. Circuit has also rankled, especially since the nominee is now embroiled in a flap over the validity of his law license.

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[goldstategop]

The real problem is Republicans are NOT forcing the Democrats to filibuster nominees by doing an actual filibuster where they have to yak around the clock. They just hold meaningless cloture votes they know they will lose. So the Democrats don't have to pay a price for obstructing the President's judicial nominees.

[Rummyfan]

Recess appointments! I don't care what the President promised Daschle nor that the appointments would only be good through January. You can always make another recess appointment.

[AmericanGirl329]

I second that statement. RECESS appointments. If the Senate Republicans would stop acting like jelly fish and develope a spine and make the DEMS filibuster 24/7, maybe they would think twice about a filibuster. Gee, I thought the Republicans were the majority party. You would never know that.

[sergeantdave]

Just change the senate rules and make 51 votes good enough for confirmation. Oh, never mind. That would require a bit of testosterone. We're talking senate republicans. They're more concerned about what the Marxists at the Times might say about them.

[Bobby Chang]

"The real problem is Republicans are NOT forcing the Democrats to filibuster nominees by doing an actual filibuster where they have to yak around the clock. They just hold meaningless cloture votes they know they will lose. So the Democrats don't have to pay a price for obstructing the President's judicial nominees."

They will. When you hold a cloture vote, it (1) shows who's obstructing and who's not, and (2) prevents them from yakking around the clock. Keep in mind if the libs keep yakking around the clock, they will be given positive spin by Universal, Disney, Paramount, and Warner Bros. news to make the President look bad with his nominees.