Posted on 09/27/2005 1:38:19 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON - With John Roberts' confirmation as chief justice now assured, Republicans on Tuesday began pressuring the Senate's minority Democrats to promise what they called a fair confirmation hearing and vote for President Bush's next Supreme Court nominee.
Bush could announce his choice to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor as early as Thursday, the same day the senators plan to overwhelmingly confirm Roberts as the Supreme Court's 17th chief justice.
Almost three-fourths of the 100-member Senate will vote for Roberts, a 50-year-old conservative U.S. Appeals judge and former appellate lawyer, as the replacement for William H. Rehnquist, who died earlier this month.
"If being intelligent, brilliant, a superb lawyer, the greatest legal mind of your generation and well qualified is not enough, what is?" said Sen. Lindsey Graham (news, bio, voting record), R-S.C., a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
While Roberts is assured his seat, confirmation could be tougher for O'Connor's replacement. She often has been a swing vote, a majority maker whose replacement could signal a shift on the court on many contentious issues including abortion and affirmative action.
Democrats have successfully filibustered several of Bush's conservative choices for lower courts, and Republicans are jumping out front to try and dissuade them from attempting to do the same to Bush's next pick, who probably will be someone more conservative than O'Connor.
"Because the nominee might be perceived by some to be more conservative in their view than Justice O'Connor, somebody is going to make the argument that this then makes this more extraordinary, and therefore try to put pressure on Democrats who have not seen fit to filibuster judicial nominees to say, 'Well, this is different,'" said Sen. Jon Kyl (news, bio, voting record), R-Ariz., chairman of the Senate Republican Policy Committee.
Added Sen. Mitch McConnell (news, bio, voting record) of Kentucky, the Senate's No. 2 Republican: "On this particular nomination we conducted ourselves well, and hopefully we can do that again since we'll have another nominee."
The White House is on the verge of completing its consultation with the Senate on the second seat, spokesman Scott McClellan said Tuesday. As many as 70 senators have been contacted, as have most of the 18 Judiciary Committee members, he said.
Democrats contended on the Roberts nomination that the White House did not do enough consultation. Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada said he would reserve judgment on how the consultation has gone for the second seat.
"We'll see who they give us, and that'll answer that question," Reid said. "You don't need a lot of consultation if the person you're consulting with listens to you, so we'll see."
Democrats are pushing for the White House to name a "mainstream" conservative to O'Connor's seat. The president is also under pressure from many quarters — including his wife — to pick a woman or a minority candidate.
Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., one of Roberts' supporters, urged the president not to "allow the clock of progress for our country, and in particular for women, to be turned back by diminishing the number of women on the court."
Salazar, one of two Hispanic senators, also called for Bush to consider nominating the Supreme Court's first Hispanic justice. It would be "a historical appointment," he said in a letter to the White House.
Widely mentioned candidates for O'Connor's seat include federal appellate judges Janice Rogers Brown, Edith Brown Clement, Edith Hollan Jones, Emilio Garza, Alice Batchelder, Karen Williams, J. Michael Luttig, J. Harvie Wilkinson, Michael McConnell and Samuel Alito. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, former deputy attorney general Larry Thompson, lawyer Miguel Estrada and Maura Corrigan, a member of the Michigan Supreme Court, are also considered possibilities.
Democrats opposing Roberts say they're concerned the former lawyer in the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations will be staunchly conservative like Justices Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia.
"He has not convinced me that he will not uphold just the letter of the Constitution, but the spirit of the Constitution as well," said Sen. Jack Reed (news, bio, voting record), D-R.I.
Roberts' supporters say they're not worried about whether he is conservative.
"To vote against Judge Roberts, I would need to believe either that he were an ideologue whose ideology distorts his judgment and brings into question his fairness and open-mindedness or that his policy values were inconsistent with fundamental principles of American law," said Sen. Carl Levin (news, bio, voting record), D-Mich. "I do not believe either to be the case."
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On the Net:
Senate Judiciary Committee: http://judiciary.senate.gov
White House: http://www.whitehouse.gov
Supreme Court: http://www.supremecourtus.gov
Supreme Court Chief Justice nominee John Roberts smiles during questioning before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in this Sept. 14, 2005 file photo. The Senate on Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2005 concentrated on who will be President Bush's next pick for the Supreme Court, signifying just how much of a lock chief justice nominee John Roberts has on the job. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak-File)
Looking at the Dems..he's thinking.."I had to put up with three whole days of this s**t,but now I have 35 years to fix things you screwed up!"
Hard to believe these words came from this pukes mouth.
Like small government, a minimum of government interference in the everyday life of its citizens, freedom, liberty and government sticking to those issues specifically outlined in the Constitution...
Been listening to Graham of SCar of late..he has just about DARED the Dems to try a filabuster..
I'd love to see Bush go far right, narrow constructionist. He's not running for anything. And after all the guff he's taken especially the last 3 or so weeks, let's have a showdown. (the R's would gain seats in Congress in the end, I betcha.)
You've gop that right. And it's going to be a blast. They'll be nuttier than nutty.
Conservative female hispanic that is as smooth and smart as Roberts. And that has been confirmed by the senate, before.
Is there one of those handy?
Ditto - This will be funny to watch - The MSM is going to freak out and spin and spin and spin -
And in the end whom ever GWB nominates will be confirmed! (which will only make the MSM continue to see what losers they have become)
Call me crazy, but I think Graham knows who the next one is, and is pleased. And before anyone asks (if my guess is right then) it's a good one.
A SCOTUS jihad, I hope.
I'm tired of these articles referring to Roberts as "conservative." He may very well be conservative, and I hope that he is, but the press does not know. Moreover, we knew Ruth Buzzy was a liberal but I doubt she was so labeled by the press during her confirmation.
I'd take it a degree further.
I'm tired of even "Republicans" or "Conservatives" looking for a "conservative" Justice. I understand for many that's shorthand for someone that interprets the Constitution and respects the role of the threee branches.
For my part, I'd rather they abandon this "conservative" or "Liberal" label in discussing whom we want for the next judge. Originalist, Strict Constructionist, Constitionalist...whatever name desired, pick one...someone that respects and aderes to our Constitution is all that concerns me.
Gee - I don't recall the constitution saying for you to provide, "consultation, advice and consent".
You Stuck On Stupid Dems will just have to give your advice (oh - already done that) see who the President chooses and vote up or down.
What's so hard about that?
Look for ridiculous charges from the usual suspects, including the MSM, the minute W niminates the new SC justice. It'll make John G. Roberts nomination process a cakewalk.
Worth filibustering from a Dem perspective but I doubt they'd do it. Final vote 52-48.
NARAL et al's press releases are already written up and approved by the DNC. They just need to fill in the blanks once the President names his second nominee. I'm sure it looks something like this:
The patriotic Americans at _______ are deeply saddened that Bush chose to be a divider rather than a uniter by nominating the right wing extremist __________ for a position on the Supreme Court. In _____________'s America, women will be slaughtered in back alleys by the thousands, the poor will be force fed chemical weapons three times daily, minorities will be rounded up and put in camps without access to cable, and we will all be forced to attend church services seventeen times a week. Our children will be taught that America is not the source of all evil on the planet, and that is simply unacceptable. The horror unleashed upon the world by _______'s nomination is, unfortunatly, what we have come to expect from this bigoted, out of touch, power hungry administration. We at _________ demand that Senate Democrats respect our authority and perform a witch burning on ____________ as soon as possible to restore balance and sanity to the Court. Oh, and Bush lied.
/sarc
Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., one of Roberts' supporters, urged the president not to "allow the clock of progress for our country, and in particular for women, to be turned back by diminishing the number of women on the court."
Salazar, one of two Hispanic senators, also called for Bush to consider nominating the Supreme Court's first Hispanic justice. It would be "a historical appointment," he said in a letter to the White House.
--->
I just came up with a brand-new PERFECT choice: Condoleeza Rice!
Let's see how Salazar and the Dems spin that one!
(I don't want to hear she's not conservative enough or how such a choice would affect conservatives ... just mull over the delicious way that the LIBERALS would HOWL BLOODY MURDER!!! What a TREAT!*%?>...)
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