Specter, the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee, addressed a closed-door party luncheon Tuesday, calling for a united front to spotlight and overcome what he said is Democrats’ slow-walking a number of nominees.
“You can do anything from asking politely to closing down the Senate,” Specter said, in outlining his options.
A senior Republican aide said the next steps are not clear, but Specter and other Republicans said a range of parliamentary tactics are on the table, including objecting to unanimous consent requests to allow committees to meet, prohibiting routine business on the Senate floor and denying quorums at Judiciary Committee meetings.
Specter also is pushing for the Senate to approve a resolution establishing a 30-day timeframe for holding a hearing on a nomination, followed by a 30-day requirement for a committee vote, followed by floor consideration within 30 days.
But some Republicans are wary that such a plan may backfire should Democrats win the White House in November.
The shift in strategy comes a day after the centrist took to the floor excoriating Democrats in a lengthy floor speech, and held a private meeting with conservative activists telling them he is “running out of patience” with the lack of action on nominees. Like McCain, Specter has also had a mixed history with conservatives, who tried to prevent him from assuming the chairmanship of the Judiciary Committee in 2005 because of he supports abortion rights.
His decision to take a more aggressive approach on this issue has won him support on the right, especially after he successfully pushed through the conservative Leslie Southwick to a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit last year.
“In the eyes of conservatives I know it’s transformed his image,” said Curt Levey, head of the conservative Committee for Justice.
The dispute boils down to the pace of confirmations and the way the parties view the numbers.
Republicans complain that 15 circuit court and 57 district court judges were confirmed in the final two years of former President Bill Clinton’s administration. That differs from the six circuit court nominees and 34 district court nominees that have been approved over the last two years. In a letter to Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) last week, Specter called on the committee to “insist” on up-or-down votes on the nominees.
Leahy shot back Monday, saying that the Republican complaints “ring hollow.” He argued that the Senate has moved to approve an “overwhelming majority” of Bush’s nominees – confirming more than 86 percent of those nominees, compared to the less than 75 percent of Clinton nominees approved by the GOP-controlled Senate.
“The difference is even more stark when examining nominations to influential circuit courts, to which nearly three quarters of President Bush’s nominations have been confirmed, compared to just over half of President Clinton’s,” Leahy said.
Moving nominees appears to be even less likely when Democrats invoke the so-called “Thurmond Rule,” named after the late Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C), and which would require a nominee to be approved if he or she had the support of Leahy, Specter, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
Despite the stalemate, McConnell signaled his conference was ready to take on the issue.
“So, I haven’t given up, but we’ve got a long way to go,” McConnell said.
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