Senate All-Nighter Over Judges

Prodded anew by President George W. Bush, the Senate plunged into marathon debate Monday over the administration's conservative judicial nominees and the rights of Democrats to deny them final votes on confirmation.

"People ought to have a fair hearing and they ought to get an up-or-down vote on the floor," Bush said at a White House news conference.

He spoke as Republican and Democratic leaders steered the Senate toward an all-night session culminating in a Tuesday showdown — and as centrists from both parties struggled to defuse the controversy.

But despite the high political stakes, a CBS News poll finds only ten percent of the public is paying very close attention to the debate.

Even so, most people surveyed still favored needing 60 votes to confirm court nominees.

At immediate issue was the nomination of Priscilla Owen, a member of the Texas Supreme Court, nominated to a seat on the federal appeals court. But the stakes were far broader than that, with Republicans seeking to strip Democrats of their right to filibuster nominees to the appeals court and Supreme Court.

Amid the rhetoric, Chief Justice William Rehnquist was brought into the Capitol building in a wheelchair for a brief visit to the office of the Capitol Physician, his presence a stark reminder of the stakes involved in the clash unfolding one floor above in the Capitol. Rehnquist, 80, is afflicted with thyroid cancer, and has been the subject of retirement rumors for months.

"The moment draws closer when all 100 United States senators must decide a basic question of principle, whether to restore the precedent of an up or down vote ... or to enshrine a new tyranny of the minority into the Senate rules," said Majority Leader Bill Frist.

"You should not be able to come in here and change willy nilly a rule of the Senate," countered the Democratic leader, Sen. Harry Reid.

Senate rules have long permitted opponents to filibuster judicial nominees, a parliamentary blocking technique that can be stopped only by a 60-vote majority. Frist and Republicans have said they intend to supersede that rule, by majority vote.

Republicans hold 55 seats in the Senate, and can afford five defections and still prevail on the strength of Vice President Dick Cheney's ability to break ties. Cheney is president of the Senate.

Democrats, in turn, have threatened to slow much of the Senate's routine business if the Republicans succeed, raising questions about the future of key elements of Bush's legislative agenda.

"My job is to pick people who will interpret the Constitution, not use the bench from which to write laws," Bush said at the White House. "And I expect them to get an up or down vote, that's what I expect. And I think the American people expect that as well -- people ought to have a fair hearing and they ought to get an up-or-down vote on the floor."

The compromise efforts unfolded outside the presence of the two Senate leaders — although Frist and Reid monitored the talks carefully.

The negotiations focused on two main areas — the fate of several of Bush's current nominees, and ground rules for considering future appointments.

Agreement by six Republicans and six Democrats would avert the showdown, since it would deprive Democrats of the support they need to sustain a filibuster, at the same time it would strip Frist of the votes he needs to enact new confirmation ground rules.

Among those holding out hope for a deal is Democratic Sen. Joseph Lieberman.

"I would predict that the odds are better than 50-50 that there will be a centrist compromise that will avoid the nuclear option," Leiberman told CBS News' The Early Show.

Many Republicans, on the other, hand, feel that the time for talking has passed.

"What we're going to have to do on Tuesday is protect the Constitution, also exercise our duties and responsibilities as senators to get off our haunches, show some spine, show some backbone and vote," said Sen. George Allen, R-Va.