US Senate--Estrada Cloture Vote Scheduled for 12:15 p.m. (EDT) Today

US Senate ^ | May 8, 2003

[Dolphy]

Thanks for the ping, Howlin. I'm office bound today so will follow the results here.

[Prolifeconservative]

It's not about the outcome. No one expects an up or down vote anymore. This about putting those nasty Democrats on record again and again and again.

And I disagree with those that are "yawning" here on this forum concerning this action by the Republicans. Congressional warfare has taken center stage now that the other war has all but ended. This vote today will gain a little more momentum because the war is no longer front and center. I am glad to see the Republicans pushing this thing forward, regardless of the unconsitutional roadblock the Demoncrats are putting up.

[GOPrincess]

Thanks much for the ping, hadn't realized a vote was being held again today.

[familyofman]

"It's not about the outcome."

Dang, and here I thought these votes were being done for a reason other than senate vote practice. Oh well, silly me. If the outcome isn't important - the nominations can just be withdrawn & Frist and his band of merry comancheros can run for the hills with their tails between their legs.

[EGPWS]

ASK THE DEMOCRATS HOW MUCH THIS IS COSTING OUR COUNTRY?

And their "broken record" reply will be "how much would it cost our country to have a, seated by a republican, judge?"

[Robert A Cook PE]

Hmmmmmmmmmn.

Notice that they don't even attempt to assume that a 24/7/52 filibuster WILL be mandated: there's another bill schedlued right afterwards.

[BreitbartSentMe]

I got my semi-regular phone call from a nice gentleman at the NRSC thanking me for my past donations, and looking for more. I told him that I have no problem with giving a donation, but as I had told the last person who called me, I would donate AFTER they had forced the dems to stop the filibusters of Estrada and Owen (et.al) and get those nominees a floor vote. I said that when they stopped playing nice with the dems, and took them to the mattresses over this issue, then I was positive the NRSC and RNC would see an absolute flood of donations, but not before.

[cyncooper]

Oh well, silly me. If the outcome isn't important - the nominations can just be withdrawn & Frist and his band of merry comancheros can run for the hills with their tails between their legs.

These nominations will never be withdrawn (sorry to disappoint).

Unlike the instant gratification types here, the point is to get these nominees voted on properly and the Republicans need to do it in a way to avoid political (yes, political) problems. Crafting a resolution would not have worked for them politically right off the bat, as it is going to take certain steps. The record is crucial, despite those here who can't see that.

[TheBattman]

Cloture?

I thought the RATs were holding a fillibuster....But my memory of Civics class far too many years ago basically would shut down the Senate to all other business until the issue was resolved or put to rest. This is far from what the RATs have been doing - The senate just keeps on plugging at other business. The vote to confirm Estrada gets held up....and is now heading for a cloture vote...

Of course, I still am of the opinion that using a fillibuster against a Presidential judicial appointee's confirmation is a streach of constitutional powers.....

[San Jacinto]

Bet you can't guess on the result of this vote? :>)

The suspense is excruciating.

[TheBattman]

But it's not a true fillibuster - other business is continuing -

[TheBattman]

And she is going to vote against Estrada again this time...she is quite set against him - no matter what he says or does. I think she is hoping that they can hold off long enough that a DemocRAT president winds up in the WH and appoints more liberals....

[pulaskibush]

Are they talking about Estrada yet?

I'm in a computer lab so I can only watch w/out sound.

[I'm ALL Right!]

could I get on the Estrada ping list also?

[Howlin]

Glad to!

[Otta B Sleepin]

Thanks for the ping, Howlin. It looks like the vote hasn't happened yet (just tuned in CSPAN-2) - did they push it back until later?

[Winfield]

JohB, you said it all......perfectly! The bottom line is
that we have a President that inspires our trust. Whatever else happens, W is the first politician, that I can remember in my 67 years, about whom I can make the statement, "I trust him". Sure makes sleeping nights much better (right after I say my prayers for him!).

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

2 GOP senators consider lawsuit to break filibuster
Debate blocks Bush judicial picks
By MELANIE EVERSLEY
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

WASHINGTON -- Two Senate Republicans are considering filing a lawsuit aimed at putting an end to delaying tactics by Democrats trying to block President Bush's nominations to the federal bench.

Freshman Sens. Saxby Chambliss of Georgia and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said Wednesday they have their staffs as well as outside experts looking at whether such a suit -- filed, in essence, against the Senate itself -- would be feasible.

Their announcement comes in the midst of the debate over nominees Miguel Estrada, a Washington lawyer, and Priscilla Owen, a Texas Supreme Court justice. Democrats charge both are too conservative for the federal bench. The Estrada debate alone has dragged on for three months.

There are enough votes -- including that of Georgia's Democratic senator, Zell Miller -- to approve the nominations of Estrada and Owen. But Republicans in the 100-member Senate have not been able to marshal the 60 votes required to end debate on the nominations so they can be brought to a vote. The continued debate to block a vote is known as a filibuster.

Republicans have repeatedly protested that the filibuster, in effect, creates an unfair requirement that any nomination by the president be approved by a 60-vote margin.

"What we're seeing with respect to the judicial nominees is for the first time in the history of America, we're having a filibuster on our judicial nominees," Chambliss said Wednesday. "That's just wrong. That's not the way the Senate is supposed to operate."

The announcement by Chambliss and Graham comes just shy of two years after Bush made his judicial nominations.

"On this, the two-year anniversary of the presidential nominations, I think it's appropriate that we start ratcheting up the pressure," Chambliss said.

Legal challenge

The lawsuit would challenge the constitutionality of the filibuster, Chambliss said. Details such as which court would hear the lawsuit would be decided by those reviewing whether it is possible, Chambliss said.

"We're not to the point of where we're going to discuss the details of what we might or might not do," Chambliss said. "Hopefully, this logjam will be resolved without us having to do that."

All through the debate, Senate Democrats have pointed out that they have helped approve the nominations of more than 90 percent of the Bush nominees. Some have suggested that if Estrada and Owen were liberals, Republicans would not have a problem with filibuster tactics. In fact, Lindsey Graham's predecessor, Republican Strom Thurmond -- then a Democrat -- set the filibuster record in 1957, speaking continuously for 24 hours and 18 minutes in a futile effort to block passage of a civil rights bill.

"It's somewhat hard to take them seriously," Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said Wednesday of his Republican colleagues. "They stopped something like 70 of President Clinton's nominees -- 70. We've stopped two of President Bush's. The thing I'm always impressed with is they can actually make the claims with a straight face."

Limiting debate

In addition to Chambliss and Graham's lawsuit rumblings, there were two other prominent proposals to break the filibuster in recent weeks. Miller introduced a resolution that would limit how long debate over an issue could take place. And New York Democrat Charles Schumer proposed that the president appoint state boards, composed equally of Democrats and Republicans, to vote on the nominations.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) said Wednesday that he will likely unveil a proposal that blends the Miller and Schumer plans.

When asked about the potential lawsuit, Frist said, "That is one [avenue] that I personally will not be pursuing. I will likely pursue trying to break the filibuster through persuasion and using the rules of the Senate . . . if need be."

The problem with modifying Senate rules to control filibusters is that filibusters are not exactly part of the Senate rules, said Betty Koed, assistant U.S. Senate historian.

"There's no real clear definition of what a filibuster is," she said. "It's more a Senate tradition than a rule."

[3D-JOY]

67? It is a good age for memory isn't it?

We seem to have seen a great deal and still have the ability to "recall" it!

Hillary, by that standard is OLD before her years! LOL

[johnb838]

I learned this trick in the run-up to the war. I was Sooo impatient, but I knew he knew what he was doing because I'd seen him do it enough to trust him. That's how I feel about these nominations because I know that when he makes his play that he will come down on the rats like stink on sh!t and they will screech and whine and crawfish, and they will end up voting exactly like he tells them to vote.

My main worry is that he stay safe.