WASHINGTON -- A group of senior Republican senators led by Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, the most senior of them all, threw their weight behind Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee on Thursday in the escalating battle over judicial nominees.
The senators once again called for an up-or-down vote on judicial nominees as colleagues debated the merits of controversial appeals court nominee Priscilla Owen of Texas on the Senate floor. At issue is the so-called nuclear option, a change in parliamentary procedure proposed by Frist to prevent Democrats from filibustering judicial nominees they deem "outside the mainstream." It also is referred to as the constitutional option.
But Stevens contended in a press conference at the Capitol Thursday that the filibuster was the change in parliamentary procedure, not Frist's proposal.
"It is my firm belief that filibusters do not belong in executive session," he said.
Democrats have accused Republicans of abusing their power to push all judicial nominees through, no matter how controversial, and of trying to subvert Senate traditions in eliminating the filibuster. Democrats have threatened to slow down the Senate if Frist invokes the nuclear option.
A small number of Republicans and Democrats concerned about the effects the clash would have on the Senate have been scrambling to try to reach a compromise before Frist invokes the change. Alaska's junior senator, Republican Lisa Murkowski, among a minority of senators who have refused to say how they would vote on a rule change, was reported to be meeting with senators working on a compromise, according to the Washington, D.C., insider newspaper Roll Call.
When asked about the likelihood of a compromise Thursday at a separate press conference, Murkowski said, "I think what is fair to say at this point is there are enough senators on both sides who are very concerned about the consequences within the Senate if we should have to exercise the constitutional option. Beyond that, it's tough to say."
Senate Appropriations chairman Thad Cochran, R-Miss., who was at the press conference with Stevens, said that all senators have considered other options, including compromises between the two sides.
"We're here to say after consideration of these suggestions, we're supporting Bill Frist," Cochran said. "We're supporting the leaders making a decision to keep the rules as they have been over the time I've been in the Senate, which is that only a majority vote is required for the confirmation of federal judges."
The issue has been building since before the 2004 election. Liberal and conservative interest groups entrenched in their positions have lobbied undecided or wavering senators fiercely, running advertisements around the country, including in Alaska. They are concerned about the ultimate clash in the Senate -- a potential U.S. Supreme Court nominee -- and have heightened pressure on all the senators involved.
But Stevens also showed a flash of temper over characterization of the issue. After reporters questioned the decision to end filibusters of judicial nominees, Stevens retorted, "Why do we get so much hell over saying we're going to do what's right?"
Democrats are trying to change the rules, he asserted.
"I just think that's audacious."
Daily News reporter Nicole Tsong can be reached at ntsong@adn.com or 1-202-383-0007.
