Senators compromise on filibusters

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http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/05/...ght/index.html

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A bipartisan group of senators reached an agreement after days of talks to avert a showdown Tuesday over President Bush's judicial nominees, Sen. John McCain announced Monday evening.

Standing with a group of 14 senators, the Arizona Republican said the seven Republicans and seven Democrats had brokered a deal to "avert a crisis" over the nominees.

Democrats filibustered 10 of Bush's 218 nominees in his first term, saying they were too radical for a lifetime appointment to the bench.

Forty-four Democrats and one independent in the current Senate have stuck to that position.

Bush has renominated seven of those judges -- including Texas Supreme Court Justice Priscilla Owen. Senate debate began last week on Owen's nomination to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Unable to garner the 60 votes necessary to end a filibuster -- a form of extended debate that has been part of Senate rules since the early 19th century -- Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Tennessee Republican, has put into motion what some call the "nuclear option."

Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, moved Friday for cloture to end debate on Owen's nomination. The vote is set for Tuesday. (Full story)

If the cloture vote were to fail, Frist would use some parliamentary maneuvering, with help from Vice President Dick Cheney as the body's presiding officer, to get a vote on a procedural motion that effectively would limit debate on a judicial nominee, according to a scenario described by Senate sources cited in The Washington Post.

Such a procedural motion would not be subject to debate and presumably would pass with a simple majority of 51 votes, instead of the three-fifths supermajority required for cloture on a filibuster.

Once that happens, the Senate would set a time to vote on Owen's nomination, which would require only a simple majority for confirmation.

The "nuclear" aspect of the scenario is that it effectively would circumvent a Senate rule that requires a two-thirds vote of 67 to change a rule.

If the Republican majority eliminated the filibuster, Democrats threatened to use Senate rules to push their agenda and disrupt the GOP's -- effectively slowing the chamber's business to a crawl.

Earlier Monday, Bush called for the full Senate to vote on his judicial picks, saying his nominees deserve "a fair hearing."

"I expect them to get an up-or-down vote. That's what I expect," Bush said at a news conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. "And I think the American people expect that as well."

Bush said his philosophy in selecting nominees has been been consistent.

"My job is to pick people who will interpret the Constitution, not use the bench from which to write law," Bush said.

The nominees under consideration have been tapped for federal appellate courts. But Supreme Court nominations -- including the chief justice post -- are likely at stake down the road.