March 27, 2004

Daschle threatens to block all Bush judicial nominees

Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle threatened yesterday to block all of President Bush's judicial nominees unless Mr. Bush promises to not appoint federal judges while Congress is on recess.
[Here's the Catch 22 of it all: President Bush had to resort to making recess appointments because Senate Dims were filibustering his nominees, invoking the "cloture rule" which had never been done before Bush!--Jen]
    
"We will continue to cooperate in the confirmation of federal judges," said Mr. Daschle, who faces re-election in South Dakota in November,
[What an idiot! Hopes this makes his opponent look even better. Go Thune!]
"but only if the White House gives assurance that it will no longer abuse the process and that it will once again respect our Constitution's essential system of checks and balances."
[You know, President Bush doesn't owe any Senator that kind of power or deference, pal!--J.T.]

 Mr. Bush has used his recess appointment powers, outlined in the Constitution and used since George Washington's administration, to place two of his nominees on federal appeals benches this year without the typically required Senate approval. Both judges had been filibustered by Democrats for at least 10 months.
   
 The threat brought immediate outrage from Sen. John Cornyn, Texas Republican and member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
[Yea, Sen. Cornyn! Texas loves you!]
    
"While sitting in my office listening, I was astonished to hear the minority leader talk about the president's use of recess appointments," Mr. Cornyn said. "The only reason the president had to use the power that is very clearly conferred upon him in the U.S. Constitution is because of this unprecedented obstruction by the Democratic minority in the Senate."
   
 Mr. Bush appointed judges Charles W. Pickering of Mississippi to the 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals and William H. Pryor to the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. Both judges were among six Bush nominees Democrats filibustered on the Senate floor, preventing them from getting a final up-or-down vote. Each of the blocked nominees appears to have enough support for final confirmation if given a final vote.
    
One of them, Washington attorney Miguel Estrada, withdrew his name from consideration last fall after being filibustered for eight months.
    
Committee Chairman Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, Utah Republican, said Democrats should stop playing games and give the nominees simple up-or-down votes.
    
"It is the unprecedented filibusters by the Democrats that necessitated the recess appointments that the Democrats are now criticizing," Mr. Hatch said.

Quite right, Senators Hatch and Cornyn!
I hope President Bush treats this like the hot air and empty threats from the Dims that it is.
Now that they've brought it up, I think it's a perfect time for the Dimocrat obstructionists in the Senate like Schumer, Leahy and Uncle Teddy to explain how those wonderful memos that Manual Miranda found help them "Bork" Bush's nominees by branding them as "Nazis" and such like.
In the case of the beleaguered Hispanic judicial nominee Miguel Estrada, Ted Kennedy's memo to his fellow Dim Judiciary committee members simply gave as the reason for Estrada's unsuitableness "He's a Latino."
(Folks, I can't make this stuff up and neither can Karl Rove! Glad we don't have to!)