Democrats to delay vote on Alito
Published 9:00 pm Friday, January 13, 2006
WASHINGTON – Democrats confirmed Friday that they will make a last-ditch attempt to slow Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito’s momentum by delaying the first vote on his candidacy.
Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said in the waning minutes of Alito’s confirmation hearing that unnamed Democrats will “exercise their rights” to put off next week’s scheduled Alito vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
That vote would have been Republicans’ first chance to officially endorse President Bush’s pick to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. All 10 GOP Judiciary Committee members have already announced their support for Alito, a 55-year-old federal appeals judge, former federal prosecutor and Reagan administration lawyer.
Judiciary chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., predicted that all eight of the committee Democrats would vote against Alito, whenever the vote is held. But on the final Senate vote, “I think there will be a little deviation,” he said.
The 44 Senate Democrats have been mostly silent about their intentions, although committee senators like Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts and Charles Schumer of New York have indicated they will oppose Alito’s confirmation.
Their liberal supporters plan to work senators hard before the final vote to ensure as many of them as possible vote against Alito, who they say will be likely to swing the court to the right in replacing O’Connor. She provided decisive votes on such important issues as abortion, capital punishment and affirmative action.
Democrats’ chances of stopping Alito seem to get slimmer each day. The only way they can block his nomination is through a filibuster, and they would need Republican help to keep Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., from banning the tactic.
But five of the seven Republican members of the “Gang of 14” – centrist senators who defused a Senate showdown over judicial filibusters last year by saying “extraordinary circumstances” would be needed – already have said they will not help Democrats if they attempt to filibuster Alito’s confirmation.
