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June
3, 2002 9:15 a.m. |
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ate last year, as Republican frustration over Senate Judiciary Committee
chairman Patrick Leahy's slow-motion handling of administration judicial
nominees neared the boiling point, some GOP senators urged their colleagues
to use parliamentary procedures to bog down the Senate's work until Democrats
agreed to confirm more judges. That's the only power we have, some argued,
and we've got to use it. No, said cooler heads, we'd catch hell in the
press and be accused of shutting down the Senate over a partisan spat.
The cooler heads won, and the Senate moved forward.
Now, however, Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle is doing essentially the same thing the GOP considered months ago. But he is not catching hell in the press — indeed, most of the world outside Capitol Hill has barely noticed.
With little fanfare and little public opposition, Daschle has shut down the confirmation process of the Senate for the last six weeks. The last Senate vote to confirm any judicial candidate was May 13. Since then, 15 nominees for the federal judiciary — nominees who have all been approved by Leahy's Judiciary Committee — have been piling up, waiting for confirmation votes in the full Senate. And it's not just judges. There are also 13 United States Marshals, whose appointment requires Senate confirmation, awaiting votes. And two U.S. attorneys, plus one other Justice Department official. In all, Daschle is holding up 31 nominations to the federal bench or the Justice Department, and no one — save for a few frustrated Republicans — is yelling about it.
"We noticed shortly after the Memorial Day recess that the Democrats weren't passing any of the judges — even after they got out of committee," says one Republican. "They're trying to use the judges to get things they want — and these are judges that they don't have problems with!" (Needless to say, the judges they do have problems with have not gotten out of Leahy's committee.)
What does Daschle want? According to most reports, he wants the confirmation of two friends and associates to federal posts. One is former aide Jonathan Adelstein, nominated to a seat on the Federal Communications Commission, and the other is Ellen Weintraub, nominated for a place on the Federal Election Commission. Both face opposition from Senate Republicans, and Daschle has responded by cutting off Senate confirmation votes until the GOP gives in.
What can Republicans do about it? Not much, at least for now. They've held private brainstorming sessions and public protests, and still have not come up with a strategy to break the blockade — or ignite public opposition. "They're not happy," says one source about GOP lawmakers. "It's an extremely anti-democratic force at work. Legislative shenanigans are affecting an independent judiciary. And the Democrats are very close to lighting a fire."
That's what's being said in private. In public, both Daschle and Minority Leader Trent Lott say they are having talks about ending the Democratic blockade. And word has been circulating that a deal is in the works. But right now, 31 nominees, all of whom have successfully made their way through the Senate Judiciary Committee, await confirmation votes in the full Senate. And Republicans are asking an old question: Where's the outrage?