Senate Dems Closing Ranks Against Mukasey

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said that the Senate would not hold a floor vote on the nomination of former judge Michael Mukasey to be attorney general if the nomination is rejected by the Judiciary Committee.

This comes as two more Senate Democrats — Sens. Ted Kennedy (Mass.) and John Kerry (Mass.) — came out against Mukasey, bringing the total to nine Democrats who have said they will vote against him because Mukasey refuses to classify waterboarding as torture.

The other "no" votes include Sens. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), Barack Obama (D-Ill.), Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

Mukasey has said that he is not in a position to give senators with a legal opinion as to whether the technique is torture. Democrats have seized on Mukasey's answer as a sign that he lacks independence from the White House, and therefore have come out against him.

Kennedy is also a member of the Judiciary Commttee, and four of the 10 Democrats on the panel are now opposed to Mukasey's confirmation. This list includes Kennedy and Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Joe Biden (D-Del.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.).

Under Senate rules, Reid could bring the Mukasey nomination to the floor for a vote even if he were turned down by Judiciary, but the Nevada Democrat signaled that he won't do that.

"No, not regardless of the committee [vote]," Reid said. "I believe in the committee process."

Reid added that he personally had not decided how he would vote on Mukasey's nomination.

"Judge Mukasey's nomination is something that I have not made a decision on," Reid said. "We have at this time, a number of senators ... on the committee who have not made up their minds. It's not one senator. It's a number of senators who have not made up their mind. I think I have spoken to all of those senators. I think I am inclined to agree with them - I am better waiting until the committee operates."