Bush in Position to Reshape Entire Federal Judiciary
WASHINGTON -- President Bush's victory in the popular vote, coupled with big gains in the U.S. Senate, may enable the White House to take a more aggressive approach in reshaping the federal courts, including the Supreme Court.
Over the next four years, Bush will make hundreds of lifetime appointments to the federal trial courts and appellate courts. He also is expected to name at least one, and possibly more, justices to the U.S. Supreme Court, which has not had a vacancy in more than a decade.
"He's already left an indelible mark on the lower courts," said Nan Aron, president of the Alliance for Justice, a liberal public interest group that has opposed Bush nominees. "A second term will cement his hold on the entire federal judiciary."
The Senate has confirmed 201 of Bush's nominees to the federal trial and appellate courts. But Democrats filibustered some of his more controversial nominees, infuriating Senate Republicans who could not muster the 60 votes necessary to bring them to a vote.
Tuesday's election gave Republicans four more seats in the Senate, bringing them to 55. One was from South Dakota, where Republican Rep. John Thune defeated Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle. Some predicted that the addition of Republican seats, coupled with Daschle's defeat, would make it more difficult for Democrats to block future nominees.
"I suspect the president will have something of an easier time in dealing with the Senate Democrats over judicial nominations," said Bradford Berenson, a Washington lawyer and former administration official.
Bush's solid win in the popular vote robs Democrats of one of the main arguments they have used to support their filibusters. They have long said they were justified in filibustering some of Bush's judicial nominees because the president failed to win the popular vote in 2000, meaning he had no mandate to reshape the courts in a strong conservative vein.
Some have speculated that Daschle's defeat could make other Democratic senators in states that voted for Bush hesitant about joining a filibuster against judicial nominees. But Aron said the Democrats would stand firm.
"If there's been one issue that's galvanized the Democrats over the past four years, it is judicial nominations," Aron said. "I don't see senators holding back for one second," Aron said.
Sen. Arlen Specter, the Pennsylvania Republican who is expected to be chairman of the Judiciary Committee next year, warned Bush against selecting any Supreme Court nominees who were too conservative to win confirmation.
The Supreme Court is divided 5-4 on a host of controversial issues, including race, religion, civil liberties and the environment. With four of the justices aged 70 or older, it's likely that Bush will have a dramatic impact on the direction of the high court, just as he has had on the lower courts in his first term.
An appointment could come sooner than expected. Chief Justice William Rehnquist announced this week that he is being treated with radiation and chemotherapy for thyroid cancer and would not return to the court as soon as planned, prompting doctors to speculate that he has an advanced form of the disease.
But his illness and advanced age--he is 80--increase the possibility that he soon would step down.
In recent years, White House officials have had ready a list of possible nominees from outside the court to replace him, with White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales at the top.
But many on the right oppose Gonzales because they believe he isn't reliably conservative, especially to replace the solidly conservative Rehnquist. Some also say he could be the next Justice David Souter, an unknown Republican nominee who became a liberal voice.
In recent weeks, some Republicans have suggested that Gonzales instead would become the nation's first Hispanic attorney general, taking the place of the controversial John Ashcroft in Bush's second term.
Bush then could nominate a more conservative chief justice, such as Judges J. Harvie Wilkinson or J. Michael Luttig from the Virginia-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit.
Also under consideration is U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Edith Jones of the New Orleans-based 5th Circuit. Jones, a strict conservative, was a finalist for the court in 1990.
Jan Crawford Greenburg
Washington Bureau
Published November 4, 2004
Copyright © 2004, Chicago Tribune
Over the next four years, Bush will make hundreds of lifetime appointments to the federal trial courts and appellate courts. He also is expected to name at least one, and possibly more, justices to the U.S. Supreme Court, which has not had a vacancy in more than a decade.
"He's already left an indelible mark on the lower courts," said Nan Aron, president of the Alliance for Justice, a liberal public interest group that has opposed Bush nominees. "A second term will cement his hold on the entire federal judiciary."
The Senate has confirmed 201 of Bush's nominees to the federal trial and appellate courts. But Democrats filibustered some of his more controversial nominees, infuriating Senate Republicans who could not muster the 60 votes necessary to bring them to a vote.
Tuesday's election gave Republicans four more seats in the Senate, bringing them to 55. One was from South Dakota, where Republican Rep. John Thune defeated Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle. Some predicted that the addition of Republican seats, coupled with Daschle's defeat, would make it more difficult for Democrats to block future nominees.
"I suspect the president will have something of an easier time in dealing with the Senate Democrats over judicial nominations," said Bradford Berenson, a Washington lawyer and former administration official.
Bush's solid win in the popular vote robs Democrats of one of the main arguments they have used to support their filibusters. They have long said they were justified in filibustering some of Bush's judicial nominees because the president failed to win the popular vote in 2000, meaning he had no mandate to reshape the courts in a strong conservative vein.
Some have speculated that Daschle's defeat could make other Democratic senators in states that voted for Bush hesitant about joining a filibuster against judicial nominees. But Aron said the Democrats would stand firm.
"If there's been one issue that's galvanized the Democrats over the past four years, it is judicial nominations," Aron said. "I don't see senators holding back for one second," Aron said.
Sen. Arlen Specter, the Pennsylvania Republican who is expected to be chairman of the Judiciary Committee next year, warned Bush against selecting any Supreme Court nominees who were too conservative to win confirmation.
The Supreme Court is divided 5-4 on a host of controversial issues, including race, religion, civil liberties and the environment. With four of the justices aged 70 or older, it's likely that Bush will have a dramatic impact on the direction of the high court, just as he has had on the lower courts in his first term.
An appointment could come sooner than expected. Chief Justice William Rehnquist announced this week that he is being treated with radiation and chemotherapy for thyroid cancer and would not return to the court as soon as planned, prompting doctors to speculate that he has an advanced form of the disease.
But his illness and advanced age--he is 80--increase the possibility that he soon would step down.
In recent years, White House officials have had ready a list of possible nominees from outside the court to replace him, with White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales at the top.
But many on the right oppose Gonzales because they believe he isn't reliably conservative, especially to replace the solidly conservative Rehnquist. Some also say he could be the next Justice David Souter, an unknown Republican nominee who became a liberal voice.
In recent weeks, some Republicans have suggested that Gonzales instead would become the nation's first Hispanic attorney general, taking the place of the controversial John Ashcroft in Bush's second term.
Bush then could nominate a more conservative chief justice, such as Judges J. Harvie Wilkinson or J. Michael Luttig from the Virginia-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit.
Also under consideration is U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Edith Jones of the New Orleans-based 5th Circuit. Jones, a strict conservative, was a finalist for the court in 1990.
Jan Crawford Greenburg
Washington Bureau
Published November 4, 2004
Copyright © 2004, Chicago Tribune
posted by R7 | 11/04/2004 01:09:00 PM
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