A prominent public-policy group is criticizing Senate Republicans and the White House for allowing Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., to move ahead with approving a number of appropriations bills while another top Democrat stalls President Bush’s judicial nominees.
The Senate GOP leadership and the administration “caved in to Democratic Leader Sen. Tom Daschle [Tuesday] and agreed to move the appropriations bills without an agreement to end Sen. Pat Leahy’s stonewalling on judges,” said the Washington, D.C.-based Family Research Council yesterday.
“A huge concession,” said FRC President Ken Connor, of Tuesday’s agreement between the White House and Daschle. “President Bush is nominating conservative judges who will exercise judicial restraint, yet the bitterly partisan Sens. Daschle and Leahy are determined to deny the president the fruits of his election.”
“Sen. Leahy is using the war on terrorism as cover for stonewalling President Bush’s nominees to the federal courts,” Connor said.
Senate Republicans had been engaged in a two-week effort to filibuster a number of appropriations bills to force Daschle and Senate Democrats to speed up hearings for Bush’s judicial nominees.
The decision to abandon the effort, announced by Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., came after a discussion at the GOP’s weekly luncheon. It clears the way for passage of a $15.6 billion foreign aid spending bill, along with four other spending bills still pending before the Senate for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1.
“While attention was diverted by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Sen. Leahy unilaterally changed Senate confirmation rules,” Connor said.
The FRC chief accused Leahy of ordering sensitive personal information “previously limited to confidential FBI background checks” to be included on the Senate Judiciary Committee’s questionnaire, which nominees must answer.
“This makes potentially embarrassing personal information available to Senate staff and all but guarantees such information will be leaked to the press,” Connor said.
Despite that, Lott said Senate Republicans “decided that the responsible thing for us to do at this time is to focus on those issues that need to be addressed as a result of the events of Sept. 11 and the anthrax attack here in our office buildings.”
Senators approved four more Bush nominees Tuesday, bringing the total approved so far this year to 12. The Judiciary Committee is scheduled to act today on some or all of five others who received hearings last week.
Another set of hearings is also scheduled. More than 50 nominations were awaiting action in the Senate when the GOP began its stalling tactics earlier this month, the Washington Post reported Wednesday.
“What’s worse about Tuesday’s concession is that it follows unprecedented action on behalf of Sen. Leahy to ratchet up the level of partisanship on judges,” said Connor.
“The war on terrorism must not be used as an excuse to abandon efforts to nominate and confirm judges who will exercise judicial restraint,” he added.
During his first year in office, President Ronald Reagan had 41 judges confirmed, while President George H.W. Bush had 15 confirmed and President Bill Clinton 28, the Wall Street Journal said.
