ConfirmThem

By AndrewHyman Posted in Senate Rules — Comments () / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

Fox News sheds some light on Senator Frist's approach to the problem of nomination filibusters:

"I think what Senator Frist has said, look, he wants to look himself in the mirror and say we tried everything we could to make sure that we preserve the precedent of the Senate," said Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa. Frist and Nebraska Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson are negotiating a plan to guarantee an up or down vote for the seven Bush nominees for whom Democrats have denied confirmation by requiring they receive a filibuster-proof 60-vote majority. Ten Bush nominees in all have been denied a full vote, and Democrats vow to use the filibuster again if they think a nominee is too conservative. The Frist-Nelson plan would guarantee hearings and floor votes for all future presidents' judicial nominees, something Republicans denied to dozens of Bill Clinton's nominees. Top Republicans say this will be Frist's "last, best offer" to Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid.

NPR has a backgrounder about judicial nomination filibusters. The full text of a letter from the National Coalition to End Judicial Filibusters is online. The Republican National Committee responds to a recent pro-filibuster advertisement by identifying several MYTHs that are part of the AD RHETORIC but which contradict FACT.

And, since the Judiciary Committee will be dealing with the Owen nomination on Thursday, here's a link to a previous confirmthem post describing how Justice Owen has been unfairly maligned by liberal attack dogs.