Hearings make or break for Miers, senator says
Published 9:00 pm Sunday, October 23, 2005
WASHINGTON – Harriet Miers does not have the votes now in the GOP-controlled Senate to be confirmed for the Supreme Court and confirmation hearings “will be make or break … in a way they haven’t been for any other nominee,” a leading Democratic senator said Sunday.
While Democrats pressed the White House to provide documents from Miers’ work as the president’s counsel, Republicans said the nomination that has riled conservatives is not in trouble or in danger of being withdrawn.
Sen. Charles Schumer, a member of the committee that plans confirmation hearings beginning Nov. 7, said lawmakers from both parties are concerned about Miers’ qualifications, independence and judicial philosophy.
“I think, if you were to hold the vote today, she would not get a majority, either in the Judiciary Committee or on the floor,” said Schumer, D-N.Y.
“I think there is maybe one or two on the Judiciary Committee who have said they’d support her as of right now,” he said.
But the committee chairman rejected the notion that Miers’ nomination was shaky. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said most senators are waiting for the hearings before making up their mind. “There are no votes one way or another,” he said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
Another committee Republican, Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas, said he has not seen “anything coming from the White House that says that they’re going to pull this nomination.
Brownback, who has been skeptical of Miers and has not announced how he will vote, added, “They’re doing everything they can to prepare Harriet Miers for the hearings right now.”
Miers, a longtime Bush confidante who has never been a judge, was nominated to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. The nomination has troubled some conservatives who say it was a risky choice because Miers was a blank slate on issues such as abortion and gay rights.
