Judicial Nominations

This week's "Purveyor of Partisanship" Award: "Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee has indicated that he intends to use his enhanced majority to try to cut off Democratic [sic] filibusters of the President's judicial nominees by whatever means necessary, a threat that if carried out could reignite partisan warfare." --New York Times reporter Carl Hulse **"Reignite partisan warfare"?


"It is worth recalling that Mr. Bush campaigned throughout 2004 against the Democrats' obstructionism in the Senate, which was most clearly epitomized by the unprecedented filibuster campaign the minority party waged against 10 judicial nominees to the nation's circuit courts of appeal. Indeed, the president's coattails played an indispensable role in ousting Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota, the leader of the filibuster campaign whose judicial obstructionism played a major role in his electoral defeat. ... During the 108th Congress, in a campaign of unprecedented scope and breadth, Democrat senators successfully voted 20 times to deny cloture on judicial nominees. Invoking cloture would have ended the Democrat filibusters being waged to prevent an up or down vote for the 10 nominees to the appellate courts. ... A review of Senate history illustrates just how unprecedented the Democrats' filibustering campaign against judicial appellate nominees has been. ... From 1949 through 2000, cloture was sought on only 13 judicial nominations, including twice for William Rehnquist, whose nominations as both associate justice and chief justice of the Supreme Court were filibustered. ... During President Bush's first term, however, cloture has been sought on 14 judicial nominations. ... Democrats have successfully filibustered 10 of the 45 circuit court nominations by President Bush that have made it to the Senate floor. That's more than 20 percent. It is a campaign that has been as unprecedented as it has been outrageous." --The Washington Times

This week's "Periplaneta Americana" Award: "I was extremely disappointed to learn today that the president intends to begin the new Congress by resubmitting extremist judicial nominees." --Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Stalingrad)

This week's "Propagandum Magnum" Award: "The Bush administration is ending the year as they began it, choosing confrontation over compromise, ideology over moderation, and defiance over cooperation. On some of their controversial nominees, they may prevail because of their monopoly of power. The big loser, however, will be the independence of our judicial branch of government." --Senator Pat Leahy, ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee ++ "In this opening shot, the White House is making it clear that they are not interested in bipartisanship when it comes to nominating judges." --Senator Charles Schumer, Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Source: Federalist Patriot No. 05-01 Wednesday Chronicle