ConfirmThem

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

Laurie Kellman of Associated Press reports on a press conference by President Bush at which he discussed the filibuster debate; plus the Chief Justice visited the capitol physician today; plus cots have just been wheeled into the Senate for the all-nighter; plus Senate leaders continue debating; plus negotiators continue negotiating:

"People ought to have a fair hearing and they ought to get an up-or-down vote on the floor," Bush said at a White House news conference....

Chief Justice William Rehnquist was brought into the Capitol in a wheelchair for a brief visit to the office of the Capitol Physician, his presence a stark reminder of the stakes involved in the clash unfolding one floor above in the Capitol....

"The moment draws closer when all 100 United States senators must decide a basic question of principle, whether to restore the precedent of an up or down vote...or to enshrine a new tyranny of the minority into the Senate rules," said Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn. "You should not be able to come in here and change willy nilly a rule of the Senate," countered the Democratic leader, Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada....

"My job is to pick people who will interpret the Constitution, not use the bench from which to write laws," Bush said at the White House. "And I expect them to get an up or down vote, that's what I expect. And I think the American people expect that as well --- people ought to have a fair hearing and they ought to get an up-or-down vote on the floor...."

[C]ompromise efforts unfolded outside the presence of the two Senate leaders --- although Frist and Reid monitored the talks carefully....

In a sign of the all-night debate to come, custodians wheeled cots past tourists through an ornate Capitol corridor.