Bush Meets With Senators About Supreme Court
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
WASHINGTON — Senate leaders responsible for pushing through President Bush's Supreme Court nominees said Tuesday that they hope to put the acrimonious debate of the past aside and to be presented with a nominee in time for a Senate vote before October.
"I think that we're at a time in the history of this country where we've had enough discussion, debate and contention on judges," Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said Tuesday morning after Bush met with a group of Senate leaders. "Senator [Bill] Frist and I want to avoid that as the two leaders of the Senate."
Asked Tuesday how close he was to making a decision, Bush told reporters, "Closer today than I was yesterday."
"I'm going to be deliberate in the process," Bush said.
On Tuesday morning Bush consulted face-to-face with four top senators about the Supreme Court vacancy — Reid, Frist, the Senate majority leader; Sen. Arlen Specter (search), R-Pa., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee; and Sen. Patrick Leahy (search) of Vermont, the ranking Democrat on the committee.
"He has reached out aggressively," and either the president or his staff has contacted 60 members of the Senate, including members of the Judiciary Committee, both Democrat and Republican, Frist said after the meeting. "The process is going to continue ... we're ready — we made it very clear to the president we expect a process in the U.S. Senate that is fair, that treats the nominee with dignity and respect."
In recent political fighting over former judicial nominees sent to the Senate by Bush, Democrats have charged that the president picked too many people out of the "mainstream" and didn't consult enough with lawmakers before he formally sent those names to Capitol Hill for consideration. Reid conceded that now, Bush is talking to the Senate.
"This process needs to move forward and I was impressed that the president said it would," Reid told reporters after the meeting. But, he added, "We have a long ways to go."
Specter said the Constitution's advice and consent clause is being followed and that the Senate's "duty" is to have a justice in place by the first Monday in October when the Supreme Court starts its new term. Lawmakers' debate time is somewhat limited in August, due to their scheduled summer recess.
"We want to see to it we don't have somebody so-called, 'hanging out there' too long," Specter said.
The Judiciary Committee chairman also blasted special interest groups for their past campaigns aimed at defeating or pushing certain nominees. Calling these campaigns "insulting" and "counterproductive," Specter said, "to the extent we can turn that off of the process, it would be much, much better off."
Both Specter and Leahy urged Bush to name someone out of the normal judicial circuit and someone who doesn't necessarily have the same exact views as outgoing Justice Sandra Day O'Connor (search).
"It would be good to have some diversity," Specter said.
Added Leahy: "Consider someone outside the judicial monastery."
"This is an important decision and it may be the first of many on this court," said the Vermont lawmaker. "It's the ultimate check and balance — let's seek somebody who would unite, can unite us."
White House spokesman Scott McClellan would not say whether the president was leaning toward selecting a woman. "The president is going to consider a diverse group of individuals for the vacancy that is available," said McClellan. Reid said Bush has "hundreds of names" to consider.
Asked about Democrats' objections to specific candidates said to be under consideration, McClellan said, "No individual should have veto power over a president's selection."
For her part, first lady Laura Bush, traveling in South Africa on Tuesday, told an American television network that she hopes Bush will select a woman.
"I would really like him to name another woman," Mrs. Bush said. "I admire and respect Sandra Day O'Connor, but I know that my husband will pick somebody who has a lot of integrity and strength."
While the president has held telephone conversations with the four senators before, Bush's breakfast with the four Tuesday was their first meeting in person about the vacancy.
"The president is not prejudging anything," McClellan said Monday. "He wants to hear what their views are and hear what they have to say as we move forward on a Supreme Court nominee."
Reid and Leahy said they appreciated the conversations they've had with Bush, but they said the onus is on the president to smooth the way for a nominee by alerting Democrats to his thinking.
Before the powwow, Leahy said he hopes the meeting is a step toward even more consultation between the White House and the Senate.
"There are potential candidates who would unite Americans and those who would divide us," Leahy said. "Meaningful consultation is more than checking off a box. It means a real dialogue that can help the president find a good nominee who could have overwhelming bipartisan support."
Reid said several senators had suggested names to the White House, but it's important that Bush share names too.
The Nevada senator said he does not anticipate that Democrats will filibuster a Bush nominee whom they consider extreme. But he added, "I'm not going to shy away from making sure that we have adequate time to explain our position if the president doesn't follow through on a consensus" nominee.
Frist, meanwhile, said he wanted to use the morning meeting to insist that Democrats treat Bush's nominee with respect.
"I will urge my Democratic colleagues to keep overzealous outside interest groups at bay and not allow them to turn this nomination process into a circus," Frist said. "We should work toward a dignified hearing process that allows opportunity for fair questioning but moves toward confirmation — not confrontation. "
Sean Rushton, director of the Committee for Justice (search), which is pressing Bush to name conservative justices to the court, said he thinks Bush and his staff will not only ask the senators for names of individuals they want him to consider, but ones they want him to ignore as well. The senators, on the other hand, are hoping Bush will tip his hand about his top candidates.
"What they're going to expect is that he'll come in with a list and say, 'Here are my three favorites and how do you feel about them?'" said Rushton, who doesn't think that's likely to occur. "I think there will be a lot of post-meeting complaining."
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