5.24.2005
A Last-Minute Deal on Judicial Nominees (WashingtonPost.com)
Senators Agree On Votes for 3; 2 Could Still Face Filibusters
By Charles Babington and Shailagh Murray
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, May 24, 2005; Page A01
Fourteen Republican and Democratic senators broke with their party leaders last night to avert a showdown vote over judicial nominees, agreeing to votes on some of President Bush's nominees while preserving the right to filibuster others in "extraordinary circumstances."
The dramatic announcement caught Senate leaders by surprise and came on the eve of a scheduled vote to ban filibusters of judicial nominees, the "nuclear option" that has dominated Senate discussions for weeks. The deal clears the way for prompt confirmation of three appellate court nominees -- Priscilla R. Owen, Janice Rogers Brown and William H. Pryor Jr.
Democratic leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.) called the pact "a significant victory for our country." But Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) said "it has some good news, and it has some disappointing news."
Frist, who was under pressure from conservative groups and colleagues to ban judicial filibusters, said that each of Bush's judicial nominees deserves an up-or-down vote on the Senate floor and that the agreement "falls short of that principle." But he and Reid had no choice but to accept the agreement's outline.
(More ... A Last-Minute Deal on Judicial Nominees) ¶ 21:14
By Charles Babington and Shailagh Murray
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, May 24, 2005; Page A01
Fourteen Republican and Democratic senators broke with their party leaders last night to avert a showdown vote over judicial nominees, agreeing to votes on some of President Bush's nominees while preserving the right to filibuster others in "extraordinary circumstances."
The dramatic announcement caught Senate leaders by surprise and came on the eve of a scheduled vote to ban filibusters of judicial nominees, the "nuclear option" that has dominated Senate discussions for weeks. The deal clears the way for prompt confirmation of three appellate court nominees -- Priscilla R. Owen, Janice Rogers Brown and William H. Pryor Jr.
Democratic leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.) called the pact "a significant victory for our country." But Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) said "it has some good news, and it has some disappointing news."
Frist, who was under pressure from conservative groups and colleagues to ban judicial filibusters, said that each of Bush's judicial nominees deserves an up-or-down vote on the Senate floor and that the agreement "falls short of that principle." But he and Reid had no choice but to accept the agreement's outline.
(More ... A Last-Minute Deal on Judicial Nominees) ¶ 21:14
