But [Chaffee] expressed his feelings in a distinctive way. Distinctive? Believe me, I know distinctive. And that's not distinctive. Weird and strange, yes. But far from distinctive.
Posted on 11/03/2005 4:40:29 PM PST by RWR8189
The Republican-controlled Senate will begin hearings Jan. 9 on Judge Samuel Alito's appointment to the Supreme Court, spurning President Bush's call for a final confirmation vote before year's end.
"It simply wasn't possible to accommodate the schedule that the White House wanted," Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said late Thursday. He outlined a schedule that envisions five days of hearings, followed by a vote in committee on Jan. 17 and the full Senate on Jan. 20.
Bush nominated Alito on Monday to fill the seat of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who has often held the swing vote on cases involving controversial issues such as abortion and affirmative action.
Conservatives eager to replace O'Connor and push the court to the right have swung behind Alito's nomination, and in making the appointment the president urged the Senate to vote this year.
Democrats, citing a need to review the voluminous record that Alito has compiled in 15 years as a judge on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, favor waiting until the new year for the beginning of hearings. The 55-year-old judge has written an estimated 300 rulings and participated in roughly 1,500 cases.
Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, who joined Specter at a news conference, took several slaps at the White House pressure.
"We are grownups, and we know how to get this done," said Leahy, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee. While not meeting Bush's timetable, he added, "We will be going at a very fast pace."
Separately, the National Archives issued a statement during the day saying its staff would need several weeks to complete a search of Department of Justice records for any material pertaining to Alito. The agency also is seeking documents at the Ronald Reagan and George Bush presidential libraries that might shed light on Alito's actions or views, the statement said.
Alito worked in both administrations and was a federal prosecutor in his home state of New Jersey before his confirmation as an appeals court judge.
Since Monday, Alito has met with more than a dozen senators in courtesy calls, a time-honored process that involves having the nominee walk from one office to another.
This was a day with a difference, though. With lawmakers involved in a daylong series of votes that kept them in the Capitol, Alito was ushered into a room a few paces off the Senate floor so senators _ Cornyn, Trent Lott, R-Miss., and Robert Bennett, R-Utah _ could be brought to him.
A fourth Republican, Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, talked with Alito on the steps outside the Capitol. A supporter of abortion rights, Chafee said he raised the issue with the nominee in their brief meeting. "We were able to have a candid conversation that I prefer to keep confidential," he said.
Like other senators, Chafee said he was withholding his judgment about the nomination until after the hearings. But he expressed his feelings in a distinctive way. "As a horseman, I know the first step when you meet a horse is to take it easy, take it slow," he said.
Specter was caught between conflicting pressures as he sought to work out a schedule on the nomination. While the president made his wishes clear, Democrat Leahy of Vermont said earlier this week it was not possible to hold honest or fair hearings before the new year.
Republicans have the ability to schedule hearings as they wish, but Democrats have procedural rights under Senate rules that could prolong the hearings, delay sending the nomination to the floor or otherwise complicate the administration's desire for a smooth confirmation.
Additionally, some Republicans noted that a vote in January _ before Bush's State of the Union address _ could allow him to claim an early political success in the new year. They also said it could be politically risky to have Alito testify in December, then allow several weeks to elapse before a vote by the full Senate. That would allow liberal critics to mount a nationwide campaign for his rejection.
A bipartisan group of 14 lawmakers met privately to discuss the appointment. Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., told reporters there was a "sense that we're still together and keeping this a civil and orderly process at this point."
The group brokered a last-minute compromise last spring that prevented a Senate showdown over several of Bush's conservative appeals court nominees and a Republican threat to ban filibusters in cases of judicial appointments.
/john
Six years and you are gone. Human parasites on the backs of Americans.
Once again the DEMS get their way. What happened to getting it done before the end of this year as the President asked? What a bunch of weak-kneed wooses the Senate Republicans are!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks, Lincoln. Now go back to your room and learn some manners.
GW could put Alito in on a recess appointment to replace OConner. The Democrats would have a stroke.ha!
Is he talking about riding?
They started the week feeling their oats but quickly reverted to their spineless selves after the Dems went on the offensive.
I believe the Senate shuts down prior to Tgiving and doesn't come back until after New Years.
This is BS. Frist needs to lay law down to Spector: Begin immediately after Thanksgiving or plan on chairing the Senate latrine cleaning committee by Christmas.
So what? We want 14 guys to come to work (not the whole Senate) and do their damn jobs in a timely fashion. They don't need two months off for the Holidays.
Don't mean to take it out on you, but this is pure scatology.
Altho you can bet that McCain won't be going home to Arizona but stay in the capitol area so he can take advantage of his knee pad sycophants in the media.
But [Chaffee] expressed his feelings in a distinctive way. Distinctive? Believe me, I know distinctive. And that's not distinctive. Weird and strange, yes. But far from distinctive.
Is that possible??
Probably not because her seat isn't vacant. She said she'd retire once her successor was approved.
Hmmmmm... that is a terrific idea.
This is going on until the election. The RATS will make sure of it and it will once again sink them further into the abyss.
Don't know, but i think he can make recess appointments while Congress is away which they will be over Christmas. Shoot I don't see where it would be any different than rule 21? ha!
And if you limit the elected legislators terms, career staff and lobbyists with the institutional memory run the show. How do you get to them?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.