Stage Set For Filibuster Showdown

Setting the stage for a long-anticipated showdown, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist announced Friday he will seek confirmation next week for two of President Bush's conservative judicial nominees blocked by Democrats.

"It is time for 100 senators to decide the issue of fair up-or-down votes for judicial nominees after over two years of unprecedented obstructionism," Frist's office said in a statement.

The statement said the focus will be on Priscilla Owen, nominated to serve as a judge for the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, and Janice Rogers Brown, to serve on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

Frist's announcement cleared the way for a momentous showdown that blends constitutional and political issues — the powers of the legislative branch to advise and consent in a president's nominees and the ability of a political minority to influence the outcome.

Democrats refused to allow a yes or no vote on 10 of Mr. Bush's first-term appeals court nominees. The president renominated seven of them this year, and Democrats vowed to block their confirmation once again.

Republicans then said they would attempt to eliminate the Democrats' ability to filibuster, a parliamentary technique that establishes a 60-vote threshold.

Frist, R-Tenn., and Democratic Leader Harry Reid have been engaged in compromise talks that could avert a showdown, but so far, there is no indication that an agreement is in sight.

Barring an agreement, Frist said he would seek a ruling next week to limit the amount of time Democrats could debate the contested nominees.

"After the ruling, he will ensure that every senator has the opportunity to decide whether to restore the 214-year practice of fair up-or-down votes on judicial nominees, or to enshrine a new veto by filibuster," the statement said.

Republicans hold 55 seats in the Senate, and can afford six defections and still prevail in the showdown, on the strength of Vice President Dick Cheney's tie-breaking vote. So far, GOP Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island have announced they will break ranks, and many vote-counters say they expect GOP Sen. Olympia Snowe to vote with the Democrats.

Several other Republicans — enough to tip the outcome — remain publicly uncommitted.Frist signaled weeks ago he would make Owen a pivotal figure in the struggle to confirm Mr. Bush's nominees.

"She has received praise from both parties," he said in remarks before a group of religious conservatives rallying against what they called a "filibuster against people of faith."

"Justice Owen has also been a leader for providing free legal services to the poor. And she has worked to soften the impact of legal proceedings on children of divorcing parents," he said.

Democrats have a different view, arguing that she is an ultraconservative activist who uses the bench to rule against consumers, working people and minors who want abortions. Reid has been offering Frist deals on less controversial nominees to try to avoid the showdown.

On Thursday, he promised that Democrats would not block confirmation votes on Michigan nominees Richard Griffin, David McKeague and Susan Neilson to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals if Frist didn't force a showdown. He made the same offer on former Senate lawyer Thomas Griffith, who wants a seat on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

"Do you want to confirm judges or do you want to provoke a fight?" Reid said.

Democrats have blocked the Michigan nominees' approval because of the objections of Sens. Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, who were upset because President Clinton's nominees to that court were never given a confirmation hearing by the Republican-controlled Senate.

Levin and Stabenow said they hoped that withdrawing their objection to most of Mr. Bush's Michigan nominees would help resolve the filibuster impasse.

Reid also said Democrats would likely filibuster a fourth Michigan nominee, Henry Saad. "All you need to do is have a member go upstairs and look at his confidential report from the FBI and I think you would all agree that there's a problem there," Reid told the Senate.

Reid did not say what was in the report, and he was criticized by conservatives for mentioning it. "With his unsubstantiated charges, Senator Reid unfairly and irresponsibly defames Judge Saad," said Jeffrey Mazzella, president of the Center For Individual Freedom.