Senators Leery of Another Supreme Court Fight
Roll Call Staff
Just over a year after confirming President Bush’s second nominee to the Supreme Court, many Senators say they are holding their breath that they won’t have to entertain another high court vacancy this Congress, anticipating a battle royal that likely would bring the narrowly divided chamber to a partisan standstill.
“I hope we don’t have one,” said moderate Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.). “If we have to, we have to, but I really hope we don’t.”
Democrats and Republicans alike agree that the thought of considering a third Supreme Court selection over the next two years is difficult to swallow, especially given the current political landscape that has thrust the Democrats into a narrow majority against a lame-duck Republican White House. What’s more, the politics of the 2008 election has already started to take hold of Capitol Hill, influencing the schedule and the legislative agenda.
“It would certainly suck all the oxygen out of the air,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a conservative Bush ally who sits on the Judiciary Committee, which considers nominations.
Senators said any high court vacancy over the next two years could easily overtake the chamber’s business, but the closer the 2008 elections get, the more problematic it will be for the two parties to consider, find consensus and confirm a new justice. In fact, most Senators said it might be impossible for Bush to successfully usher in a new appointment under the spotlight of a presidential election and with the clock ticking on end of his term.
“First, I really don’t think it’s going to happen,” said Sen. Jon Kyl (Ariz.), the No. 3 GOP leader. “But secondly, it really depends on the timing. If it happens a year from now, forget it.”
“An opening in the near term would precipitate a significant debate,” said Democratic Policy Committee Chairman Byron Dorgan (N.D.). “Most of us fervently hope this president doesn’t get a third appointment.”
Hopes aside, the possibility of another opening remains. Four of the nine justices have surpassed their 70th birthdays, and one of them, Associate Justice John Paul Stevens, just turned 87. Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 74, appointed by President Bill Clinton, successfully battled colon cancer eight years ago.
Bush successfully shepherded two justices through the GOP-controlled 109th Congress, first with now-Chief Justice John Roberts and early last year with the more controversial now-Associate Justice Samuel Alito. The two picks were widely praised in GOP circles for their legal and conservative credentials, while liberals cringed at the selections, as they feared the installments would shift the overall direction of the Supreme Court.
The slant of the Roberts court has started to come into view in recent weeks with a ruling narrowly upholding a federal ban on partial-birth abortion. The court is now considering another high-profile case over whether to overturn a key piece of the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act.
Both Senators and outside observers believe Bush would try to install a third conservative-leaning justice to the Supreme Court, and in all likelihood, that selection would replace one of the more senior, liberal-leaning justices. Experts agree the president would most likely tap a female or minority to fill any opening and refer to a working list from his previous selections.
Among the possibilities are Diane Sykes, a federal judge on the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of appeals, Edith Brown Clement or Priscilla Owen, both of whom sit on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court, and Maura Corrigan, a Michigan Supreme Court justice. Other names that surfaced before Alito was tapped included Emilio Garza of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court and Michael Luttig and J. Harvie Wilkinson III, both of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court.
White House officials acknowledge any Supreme Court opening now would be an extremely heavy lift, noting that the confirmation of a justice to a lifetime appointment even under the best of circumstances is a tough sell. The best and perhaps only chance of winning a confirmation over the 110th Congress, they say, would be to offer a nominee with impeccable credentials, who even with a conservative legal bent couldn’t be deemed ill-qualified by the Democratic majority.
Potts: Congress Must Not Allow Lobbying Efforts to Block Pro-Consumer Financial Planning Bill
March 18, 12:35 p.m.
Quietly hidden amid debates over which agency should house a consumer financial protection agency is a simple consumer financial protection proposal. It would safeguard Main Street residents from malpractice by people claiming to be financial planners. Read Full Article
Roll Call Video Channels
