With a Supreme Court vacancy to fill, President Bush is reaching out to a mix of Republicans and (surprise, surprise) Democrats, seeking their "advice and consent."
Bush will meet today with four Senate leaders: Majority Leader Bill Frist, (R-TN), Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA), and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), the ranking Democrat on that panel.
The president clearly doesn't want to face the threat of a Democratic filibuster, and following negotiations among 14 moderate senators in May, perhaps Bush is heeding their call to take seriously the "advise and consent" clause of the Constitution. The bloc of 14 — seven Democrats and seven Republicans — is large enough to derail both Democratic filibusters of judicial nominees and any GOP attempt to employ the "nuclear option" to change Senate rules to eliminate the filibuster.
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We have to assume that Bush plans to incorporate the senators' thoughts as he prepares to pick a nominee to replace Sandra Day O'Connor. If he does, it will be a change in philosophy for the Administration.
After the 14 senators' negotiations in May, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan indicated the Bush administration would stay the course: "We will continue working to push for an up-or-down vote on all our nominees," he told CNN.
Frist, Bush's mouthpiece in the Senate, voiced a similar opinion, saying the agreement "falls short" of the principle that all judicial nominees should receive a vote on the Senate floor.
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We have to assume that Bush is being authentic is his desire to have a nominee sail through the confirmation process.
McClellan said at the July 11 press conference that Bush "will be listening to what their views are. The President is not prejudging anything. ... But not only are we going to consult before the nomination is made, but we'll continue to consult once the nomination is made."
Article comments
1 - Big Time Patriot
It is a sad thing that such simple efforts of cooperation between the Administration and Legislators is such a surprise.
This is a good thing for Bush to do. Even going through the motions of trying to govern through cooperation with the other branches of government.
2 - Maurice
It wouldn't be such a big deal if the Supreme Court would respect States rights.
3 - RJ
Maybe Bush should pick Senator Crapo of Idaho. I'm pretty sure the Dems wouldn't filibuster this nomination, and Crapo is pretty solidly conservative. And the Governor of Idaho is a Republican, who would presumably pick another Republican to replace Crapo, thereby not affecting the balance of power in the Senate.
4 - RJ
BTW, the name is not pronounced Crap-o, but Cray-poe...