By Thomas Ferraro
27 minutes ago
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Talks by the Senate's top two leaders to try and avert a showdown over President Bush's judicial nominees came to a halt on Monday.
"The negotiations are over," declared Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, as he emerged from a meeting with his Republican counterpart, Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee.
"I've tried to compromise (but) they want all or nothing, and I can't do that." Reid told reporters. "So now it will be decided on the Senate floor, hopefully this week."
That left it up to other senators -- including Republican John McCain of Arizona and Democrat Bill Nelson of Nebraska -- to find an elusive compromise to prevent a battle that could shift the balance of power between Congress and the White House.
Frist plans to begin several days of debate on Wednesday on two of the seven appeals court candidates blocked by Democrats during the last Congress and renominated by Bush after he won re-election in November.
If Democrats again stop any of them with procedural hurdles known as filibusters, Republicans threaten to move to ban such tactics on appeals court as well as U.S. Supreme Court nominees.
Republican leaders insist they will have the 51 votes needed to abolish such filibusters. But Democrats insist it is still too close to call.
Reid earlier called on Republicans to break ranks. He said if a handful of Republicans side with Democrats, they could preserve Senate rules that help check the powers of the White House by permitting filibusters against candidates for the federal bench.
"I'm confident and hopeful that there will be six Republican senators who will be profiles in courage," Reid said.
Reid, who has been trying for more than a month to reach a compromise with Frist, said: "I don't think Senator Frist is capable of working something out on this. I think he is going to try to satisfy the radical right."
Special interest groups from the political right and left have weighed into the battle since the federal courts decide such issues as civil rights, abortion rights and gay rights.
Reid and Frist had dinner on Sunday, but Reid said the conversation was limited. "The only talk last night was how good the duck was," Reid told reporters.
Republicans hold 55 of 100 Senate seats. A simple majority is needed to confirm a nominee, but 60 votes are required to end a filibuster.
Republicans contend senators, as part of their constitutional duties, should vote on all judicial nominees who reach the full Senate for confirmation.
McCain and Nelson have sought a compromise of their own. Their aim is to provide six Democratic votes to win confirmation of some of the disputed nominees as well as six Republican votes to preserve the judicial filibuster.
As part of their proposed deal, many of the specifics yet to be finalized, Democrats would pledge not to filibuster future judicial nominees except in "extreme circumstances."
"The problem (is) ... if you use the word 'extraordinary' or 'extreme circumstances,' how would that be defined and who would make the determination," Sen. Trent Lott (news, bio, voting record), a Mississippi Republican, told CNN. "That's very difficult to do."
But Lott, who has also tried to find common ground, said, "We should look at all options."
Nelson was confident he had enough Democrats on board for his possible compromise, but was still working to attract a total of six Republicans, an aide said.