Smooth Sailing For Roberts

Senate continued debate on John Roberts' nomination as chief justice Tuesday, with a vote on his near-certain confirmation planned for Thursday morning.

While Roberts' confirmation was the subject of the debate, senators were spending as much time talking about President Bush's next nominee as they were about the man who will become the nation's 17th chief justice.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, accused Roberts' opponents of trying to get Democrats to vote against the conservative U.S. Appeals Court judge "in large part to somehow send a message to President Bush as he deliberates on how to fill the remaining vacancy on the Supreme Court."

Mr. Bush is expected to announce a replacement for retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, one of two women on the high court, soon after the Senate confirms Roberts. The president is under pressure from many quarters — including his wife – to pick a woman or a minority.

Mr. Bush said Monday he'll "pick a person who can do the job. But I am mindful that diversity is one of the strengths of the country."

The White House is on the verge of completing its consultation with the Senate on the second seat, Bush spokesman Scott McClellan said Tuesday. As many as 70 senators have been contacted, as have 17 of the 18 Judiciary Committee members, he said.

"I think we were essentially wrapping that process up as early as today," McClellan said.

On Tuesday, Sen. Ken Salazar of Colorado, one of Roberts' Democratic supporters, urged the president not to "allow the clock of progress for our country, and in particular for women, to be turned back by diminishing the number of women on the court."

Salazar, one of only two Hispanic senators, also called for Mr. Bush to consider nominating the Supreme Court's first Hispanic justice. It would be "an historical appointment," he said in a letter to the White House.

With 17 Democrats now on record as supporting Roberts and all 55 Republican senators expected to vote for him, Roberts is assured of being confirmed to succeed the late Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist.

Democrats also are trying to use floor speeches to pressure the president into picking a mainstream conservative instead of a hard-line conservative.

"I encourage President Bush to nominate someone for Justice O'Connor's seat who will further unite the citizens of our great nation, rather than drive a political wedge between them," said Sen. Tim Johnson of South Dakota, who has announced his support for Roberts.
Roberts' would-be colleagues support him, too, said Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa. "The word is that the justices very much applaud his nomination to be chief justice," Specter said.

Roberts has all of the qualities a good chief justice needs, and senators who vote against him are only doing so for partisan reasons, said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. "If he doesn't get 90-plus votes, I think the Senate needs to do some self-evaluating, because we're going down the wrong road," Graham said.

Widely mentioned candidates for O'Connor's seat include federal appellate judges Janice Rogers Brown, Edith Brown Clement, Edith Hollan Jones, Emilio Garza, Alice Batchelder, Karen Williams, J. Michael Luttig, J. Harvie Wilkinson, Michael McConnell and Samuel Alito. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, former deputy attorney general Larry Thompson, lawyer Miguel Estrada and Maura Corrigan, a member of the Michigan Supreme Court, are also considered possibilities.

Roberts' Democratic supporters warned the White House not to take their support for granted on the next nominee, especially if Mr. Bush chooses a hard-right conservative.

"We're asking him in this case especially: Be a uniter. Don't be a divider, for the sake of the country," said Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the senior Democrat on the Judiciary Committee.

Democrats opposing Roberts say they're afraid the former lawyer in the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations will be staunchly conservative like Justices Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia.

They questioned Roberts' commitment to civil rights and expressed concern that he might overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade court ruling that established a right to abortion. "I have too many doubts about his commitment to nondiscrimination, the right of privacy and equal protection under the law," said Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md.

Republicans insisted Roberts has not indicated how he will vote on any issue, including abortion. "Judge Roberts is not predisposed to overturning the settled precedent represented by Roe," said Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine.