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BUSH SEEKS TO SPEED JUDICIAL CONFIRMATIONS Plan Gives Senate 180 Days to Act on President's Choices By Ron Hutcheson, Knight Ridder Newspapers, Reported in Las Vegas Review-Journal 10-31-02, P. 18A WASHINGTON - Warning of a "vacancy crisis" in the federal courts, President Bush on Wednesday proposed to streamline the judicial confirmation process by imposing firm deadlines for Senate action. Under Bush's plan, the Senate would have 90 days to hold a hearing on a judicial nominee and 180 days to accept or reject the president's choice. Because the Constitution awards the Senate power to decide how it will "advise and consent" on judicial nominees, Bush seeks an informal agreement to his timetable. Several of Bush's court picks have waited more than a year for a Senate hearing. Although the proposal targets an obvious problem, the timing of Bush's announcement - coming less than a week before Tuesday's congressional elections - suggests that it is as much about politics as policy. Bush's complaint that the Senate has done "a lousy job" with his judicial nominees is a standard applause line he uses at Republican political rallies. He often cites the Senate's record on judicial nominees as a key reason why voters should support Republican candidates. Democrats say that the issue isn't scheduling, it's the poor quality of Bush's judicial picks. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, defended the panel's work and accused Bush of playing politics with the issue. "The Senate does not need arbitrary deadlines. What we need is cooperation from the White House in choosing more noncontroversial nominees," Leahy said in a prepared statement. "Controversial nominations to lifetime appointments, once confirmed, cannot be undone." Sheldon Goldman, an expert on the judicial nomination process, praised the substance of Bush's proposal, but criticized its timing. "The timing almost guarantees that it's not going to be taken seriously. One week before the election is not the time to do this," said Goldman, a political science professor at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. "It's unfortunate, because there really does need to be reform." The Senate's ability to install judicial appointments could become even more important if Bush gets a chance to replace one of the aging Supreme Court justices. The Senate has confirmed 80 of Bush's 131 judicial nominees so far. The Senate Judiciary Committee rejected two nominees, Charles Pickering of Mississippi and Priscilla Owen of Texas. The rest are awaiting a committee hearing or a vote in the full Senate. In the meantime, about 9 percent of the federal court seats, 79 out of 849, are vacant. "The judicial confirmation process does not work as it should," Bush said in announcing his plan at the White House. "Nominees are too often mistreated. Votes are delayed. Hearings are denied. And dozens of federal judgeships sit empty." Under Bush's proposal, the White House would have 180 days to submit its nominee for any judicial vacancy. Bush also asked sitting judges to notify the White House a year before any planned retirements. "There's no good reason why any nominee should endure a year, a year-and-a-half, or more, without the courtesy of an up or down floor vote," Bush said. "We clearly have a poisoned and polarized atmosphere in which well-qualified nominees are neither voted up or down, they are left in limbo." WORKING TOGETHER TO ATTAIN FAIRNESS | |
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