Posted on 11/04/2005 7:05:43 AM PST by pabianice
The Senate will not conduct Supreme Court confirmation hearings for federal Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. until next year, Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter announced yesterday.
A final confirmation vote by the full Senate is scheduled tentatively for Jan. 20, making it the longest confirmation process since that of Justice Clarence Thomas in 1991.
Mr. Specter's timetable envisions five days of hearings before the judiciary panel, starting Jan. 9, followed by a committee vote on Jan. 17.
"The White House wanted [Judge Alito's confirmation] before Christmas," Mr. Specter said yesterday. "It just couldn't be done. We have to do it right; we can't do it fast."
Although the White House had sought a faster schedule, spokesman Steve Schmidt said the administration had "great confidence in Chairman Specter to manage the extremely complicated process of moving a nominee to the Supreme Court through the U.S. Senate."
But based on comments yesterday by centrist Democrats, Judge Alito does not appear headed toward bitter hearings like Justice Thomas.
"He certainly got it off to a good start," Sen. Mark Pryor, Arkansas Democrat, said yesterday after meeting with Judge Alito. Mr. Pryor is among the "Gang of 14" who can determine whether the "extraordinary circumstances" exist that warrant a filibuster against a nominee.
"I don't see any extraordinary circumstances," Mr. Pryor said. "I don't expect any. But then again, things can change rather quickly, and I'll continue to be looking for those."
That group of seven Democrats and seven Republicans who crafted a deal in May to break the Democratic filibusters against President Bush's appeals-court nominees met yesterday morning for the first time since Judge Alito's nomination on Monday.
"No, I don't see anything," Sen. Joe Lieberman, Connecticut Democrat and Gang of 14 member, said
(Excerpt) Read more at insider.washingtontimes.com ...
That's my take on it - Specter's trying to kill the nomination without getting his fingerprints all over the attempt. I don't think he'll be able to kill it that easily, though.
"The White House wanted [Judge Alito's confirmation] before Christmas," Mr. Specter said yesterday. "It just couldn't be done. We have to do it right; we can't do it fast."
It's going to go down like this:
"It just couldn't be done. Bumping up the confirmation hearings doesn't leave enough time for all of our Special Interest Groups to produce, fund & run Anti-Alito ads in all media outlets."
>The Dems want Sandra Day O'Connor around as long as possible. There must be some issues before the court that they want her to decide, not Alito.<
Bingo! Parental notification scheduled to be heard in early Dec. Specter and the Democrats want to delay this appointment.
O'Connor should have been replaced before Rehquist. She would have been off the court.
The right wanted a fight with a known conservative nominee. They did not trust George Bush to actually appoint a nominee that was consevative and confirmable.
So they blew her out of the water. The right can never again claim that all nominees deserve an up or down vote. Miers didn't get one. Only a very big idiot would believe Alito will get one.
Inasmuch as O'Connor resigned effective only on the confirmation of her replacement, not in this case.Unfortunately. Part of me wants that to happen - and have the president name Thomas Sowell to a vacancy. That would be "extrodinary circumstances" to the lefties; Ted Kennedy would have a seizure. But who more wise than Sowell, to cut to the heart of a matter to the principled result?
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