ConfirmThem

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

David Limbaugh has a March 11 column, in which he makes some good points:

We have a president firmly in charge of the executive branch, intent on appointing constitutionalists to the federal appellate bench. But he is violently opposed by filibustering Democrats who consider jurists who believe in interpreting the Constitution as written to be extremists.

Moreover, they insist on coequal power in the president's judicial appointments rather than limiting themselves to their assigned advise-and-consent function, in which they should pass only on the competence and character of the president's nominees. Again, such behavior by congressional Democrats has now become utterly predictable.

But where are the Republicans? Senator Frist earlier indicated he would invoke the nuclear option, which is a deliberately misnamed remedy designed to restore Senate majority rule to the Senate judicial confirmation process -- without, contrary to Senator Byrd's hysterical rantings, suppressing debate. Are we going to wait until more damage is done to invoke this rule change, or delay until GOP liberal Arlen Specter gets ready to throw us half a bone?

Apparently, the business lobby is pushing its agenda before the judicial showdown deadlocks the Senate: "Frist appears eager to clear the decks of achievable legislation." Sen. Frist may try to get the following things done before the judicial nominations: the budget (including drilling in ANWR), then an energy bill (which will be easier if ANWR is already taken care of in the budget context), and a highway bill. That could also give Senator Specter enough time to get all of the previously filibustered nominees out of committee, not that much time is really needed.