 |
|
October
10, 2002 9:00 a.m.
Will
Bush Battle Leahy?
The
president gets ready for another fight over judges.
|
|
  'm
not changing my philosophy," George W. Bush told a group of Senate
Judiciary Committee Republicans at a quickly arranged White House meeting
Wednesday. "I'm going to send [the Senate] judges I agree with."
The president was
meeting with GOP senators in response to the latest flare-up in the ongoing
battle over judicial nominees. On Tuesday, Judiciary Committee chairman
Patrick Leahy reneged on a promise to Sens. Strom Thurmond, Orrin Hatch,
and others that he would hold a vote on federal appeals court nominee
Dennis Shedd. Leahy's blocking action, made apparently at the behest of
civil-rights groups which oppose Shedd, left the nomination in limbo and
Republicans — including George W. Bush himself — fuming. "He's
outraged," says one administration source of the president. "It's
pretty obvious what's going on. Senator Leahy didn't want to upset the
liberal interest groups by approving someone they disagree with."
The guest list in
the White House Cabinet Room told the senators that the issue had moved
up on the administration's priority list. Not only was the president there,
but also Vice President Dick Cheney, White House chief of staff Andrew
Card, top political adviser Karl Rove, and others. "This was a big
deal," says one source. Although the president expressed his anger
at the treatment of Shedd and fellow nominees Charles Pickering, Priscilla
Owen, Miguel Estrada, and others, it is not clear whether the group discussed
specific measures to strike back at Leahy.
Earlier in the day,
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer soft-pedaled the issue, saying only
that the meeting had been called to discuss the "troubling developments"
in the Shedd nomination. But Fleischer hinted at the president's anger
when he made it clear Bush did not intend to talk with Leahy. Asked, "Why
isn't he inviting Democrats?...Wouldn't that help actually get something
done, if he could talk to Leahy?" Fleischer responded, "I think
the problem lies on that side, and the president is going to talk to Republicans
about how to find solutions to it."
"Has he thought
about talking to Senator Leahy?" the reporter asked.
"I think Senator
Leahy expressed his message yesterday when he failed to uphold a commitment
that he, himself, made to Senator Thurmond," Fleischer answered.
Meanwhile, on Capitol
Hill, the issue spilled onto the Senate floor when Republican senators
interrupted the Iraq war resolution debate to denounce Leahy. Part of
the anger was personal. Shedd, who is now a U.S. District Court judge
in South Carolina, is a former top aide to Thurmond and chief counsel
of the Judiciary Committee in the 1980s. On Wednesday, the 99 year-old
Thurmond made a rare floor statement — perhaps his last as a senator
— denouncing Leahy. "Chairman Leahy violated committee rules
and removed the nomination of Judge Shedd from the agenda," Thurmond
said. "I am hurt and disappointed by this egregious act of destructive
politics. Chairman Leahy assured me on numerous occasions that Judge Shedd
would be given a vote. I took him at his word."
The Democratic response
came not from Leahy but from Assistant Majority Whip Harry Reid. "We
understand that Senator Thurmond is disappointed," Reid began. But
Reid said the committee had received "hundreds of letters" from
African-American and other groups opposed to Shedd. "Senators are
taking those concerns seriously and being thoughtful and deliberate in
reaching their own conclusions," Reid said.
Not enough, responded
Hatch. "We operate under the presumption that a senator's word is
as good as gold," Hatch told the Senate. "Senator Leahy promised
me and all of these others, and I think it's fair to say the entire Republican
caucus expected a vote on Judge Shedd." His voice rising, Hatch continued:
"All we were asking for is a vote — just a stinking, solitary
vote. If they want to vote him down, they can do that."
What happens next
is not clear. On Tuesday, Hatch and other senators invoked a little-used
rule to demand a special meeting of the Judiciary Committee. Leahy has
three days to respond, but Republicans who have studied the rule say that
the chairman can easily ignore the request if he chooses. And even if
Leahy agrees, there is little hope that he would allow a vote on Shedd.
So it appears that, barring some unforeseen development, Dennis Shedd,
nominated on May 9, 2001, will have to wait until 2003 for his next chance
to win the Judiciary Committee's approval.
|
<% dim printurl
printurl = Request.ServerVariables("URL")%>
