ConfirmThem

By AndrewHyman Comments () / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

President Bush commented on Tuesday about the deal over judicial confirmations:

Q Thank you, sir. Can you talk a little bit about the process you're using to pick your next Supreme Court justice? And is that going to be affected at all by the agreement that was reached between the 14 Republicans and Democrats on judicial nominations?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, that depends on whether or not the Senate will give my person an up or down vote. Here's my process. One, I'm obviously going to spend a lot of time reviewing the records of a variety of people and looking at their opinions and their character, and will consult with members of the United States Senate at the appropriate time.

I know there's been a lot of talk about consultation between the White House and the Senate, and we do consult -- obviously, we consult on district judges -- and that we listen to their opinions on appellate judges -- "their" opinions being the opinions from the home state senators, as well as others.

I look forward to talking to members of the Senate about the Supreme Court process to get their opinions, as well, and will do so -- and will do so. But, obviously, it's -- I told the American people I would find people of a certain temperament that would serve on the bench, and I intend to do that, but we will consult with the Senate.

Now, in terms of whether that agreement means that a senator [sic] is going to get an up or down vote, I guess it was vague enough for people to interpret the agreement the way they want to interpret it. I'll put a best face on it, and that is that since they're moving forward with Judge Owen, for example, and others, that "extraordinary circumstances" means just that -- really extraordinary. I don't know what that means. (Laughter.) I guess we're about to find out when it comes to other appellate judges. (Laughter.)

But I was pleased to see Priscilla Owen get an up or down vote, and she passed quite comfortably. She's a very good judge. And then, of course, Pryor and Judge Brown will be coming up pretty soon, I hope, and I would hope they would get confirmed, as well. They're good judges.

Regarding Judge Brown, I think the material at Senator Reid's web site is revealing about the opposition to her appointment. Senator Reid refers to three of Judge Brown's speeches, but does not cite or criticize any legal opinion that she wrote. It shouldn't matter that a judge makes some thought-provoking speeches, as long as the judge's actual legal opinions comport with the intended meaning of the law.