Ramblings' Journal

Senate Democrats try to drive President's choice for SCOTUS

Democrats in the US Senate are under the mistaken notion that President Bush has an obligation to nominate someone who lives up to their impression of what a judge should be. They insist that any nominee must not be conservative, and to go even further, they insist that any nominee who is a strict Constiutionalist and does not believe in "judicial activism" is somehow "out of the mainstream," and should be the target of a filibuster, despite last month's agreement by the bi-partisan "gang of 14" to avoid filibusters and use of the so-called nuclear option to maintain the majority's control of that august body.

Ted Kennedy (D-MA) went as far as to insist that he and his fellow liberals had an "obligation" to the American people to oppose any conservative nominee.

Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy Friday praised retiring Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, but also threatened to oppose the choice of a replacement "if the president abuses his power and nominates someone who threatens to roll back the rights and freedoms of the American people."

If that situation develops, Kenndy warned, "then the American people will insist that we oppose that nominee, and we intend to do so."

Chuck Schumer (D-NY) insisted on ABC's This Week With George Stephanopoulos that the President should allow a "bi-partisan" committee of Senators pick his nominee.

"I proposed a summit where the president calls a wide range of senators and we roll up our sleeves, let down our tie and discuss things all day long."

Joe Biden (D-DE), when questioned specifically about recently confirmed federal Judge Janice Rogers Brown on CBS' Face The Nation Sunday, threw all pretense of rational thought out the window and went for the jugular.

if Bush were to nominate Brown -- the outspoken California judge recently named to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit -- "I could assure you that would be a very, very, very difficult fight, and she probably would be filibustered," Sen. Joseph R. Biden (news, bio, voting record) Jr. (D-Del.), a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, said on CBS's "Face the Nation."

They all seem to have forgotten that they aren't in the driver's seat. They don't control the White House, they don't control the Senate, they don't control the House. I guess they are trying to keep half a hand on the judiciary as the third branch of government.

It's gonna be a hot summer in Washington this year.

Posted by mhking at July 5, 2005 10:51 PM | TrackBack