Frist Offers Debate Time On Nominees

WASHINGTON – Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist refused to budge yesterday on his demand that Democrats forgo filibusters against all of President Bush’s past or present appeals court nominations.“Throughout this debate, we have held firm to a simple principle, judicial nominees deserve up-or-down votes,” Mr. Frist said.He offered to allow senators to retain the right to filibuster District Court nominees as part of an arrangement in which confirmation votes would be guaranteed on the nation’s highest judgeships after 100 hours of debate. The Senate’s top Republican also said that under his plan, senators would no longer be able to block nominees in the Judiciary Committee.“Judicial nominees are being denied. Justice is being denied. The solution is simple, allow senators to do their jobs and vote,” Mr. Frist said in a speech on the Senate floor.Senate Minority Leader Reid said he would look at Mr. Frist’s offer, but wasn’t all that charitable in his description. “It’s a big wet kiss to the far right,” he said.Mr. Reid said that Mr. Frist’s offer would mean that Democrats would lose their ability to block Mr. Bush’s nominees, a condition he is not willing to accept. “After 100 hours, the rights of the minority are extinguished,” he responded in a corresponding Senate speech. “This has never been about the lengths of the debate. This is about checks and balances.”Mr. Frist suggested in a letter yesterday to Mr. Reid that he would be willing to set time limits on committee consideration of nominees, a proposal that Senator Specter, a Republican of Pennsylvania, made last year before taking over the Judiciary Committee chairmanship.Mr. Specter suggested that the committee be forced to hold a confirmation hearing within a month of a nomination. The panel committee would then be forced to hold a confirmation vote within two months of the hearing. The Senate would be forced to start debating the nomination within two months of committee vote, and a final confirmation vote would happen within 30 days.“I believe [it] is a worthy model to discuss as it applies to Circuit Court and Supreme Court nominees,” Mr. Frist said in the letter.One of Democrats’ biggest complaints has been that more than 60 of President Clinton’s nominees were bottled up in committee, leaving positions available for Mr. Bush to fill.“Whether on the floor or in committee, judicial obstruction is judicial obstruction,” Mr. Frist said. “It’s time for judicial obstruction to end no matter which party controls the White House or the Senate.”Liberal groups almost universally panned Mr. Frist’s offer, while conservatives said it was a good deal.Mr. Frist’s proposal is “a rational compromise that is more than fair to both Republicans and Democrats,” a lawyer for the Judicial Confirmation Network, Wendy Long, said.

Frist Offers Debate Time On Nominees

Frist Offers Debate Time On Nominees

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