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http://www.usatoday.com/news/washing...M_Exclude=Juno
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WASHINGTON — Bucking leaders in both parties, a bipartisan group of lawmakers agreed Monday night to a deal that avoids a clash over Senate rules and clears the path for confirmation of most — but not all — of the conservative judges President Bush aims to put on the bench.
The agreement by 14 lawmakers pulled the chamber back from the brink of a battle that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Tennessee Republican, pledged to win — depriving him of the chance to show that he could muscle conservative judges through a bitterly divided chamber and leaving him forced to accept a deal that he admitted fell short of his goals.
"It has some good news and it has some disappointing news," Frist said on the floor shortly after the agreement was signed.
Neither Frist nor his Democratic counterpart, Harry Reid of Nevada, can block the agreement, because without the Republicans and Democrats who signed it, neither side has enough votes to win a challenge over judges on the Senate floor.
Still, Frist and his advisors tried to claim victory, even as Democrats said the deal gave the Tennessean a defeat. Five of the seven judges Democrats blocked in the last Congress will get the up or down votes Frist wanted, and the Democrats who signed the agreement said they would only join filibusters against other judges under "extraordinary circumstances" in the future.
"Tonight it is possible that this unfortunate chapter in our history can close, because this arrangement makes it much less likely — indeed almost impossible — for such mindless filibusters to erupt on this floor over the next 14 months, and for that I am grateful," Frist said.
A likely candidate for the GOP's 2008 presidential nomination, Frist has been under enormous pressure from the White House and from social conservatives to push Bush's judges through. One of Frist's possible rivals, Arizona Sen. John McCain, helped pull the deal together.
The Senate clashed for almost four years over a small handful of conservative judges Bush is trying to appoint to powerful federal appeals courts, which get the last say in most cases because the Supreme Court hears very few.
By dragging out debate endlessly, or filibustering, nominations of judges they opposed, Democrats forced the GOP to round up 60 lawmakers to move to a final vote, even though confirmation only requires 51 votes. Republicans have 55 seats, so they can't break filibusters if Democrats stay united.
Frist had been planning a vote Tuesday on banning the filibuster of appeals court judges, a move dubbed "the nuclear option" because of its likely effect on the Senate. It was unclear Monday night whether he would have prevailed had the deal not been struck.
Now, the seven Republicans who signed the deal have committed to voting against the "nuclear option" unless they think Democrats are engaging in an unreasonable filibuster.
Under the agreement, the Senate will be able to move to final votes on Texas Judge Priscilla Owen, California Judge Janice Rogers Brown and Alabama Judge William Pryor. Filibusters against Michigan Judge Henry Saad and Idaho Judge William Myers will be allowed continue, effectively dooming their nominations.
And the agreement may mean Bush has to take Democratic objections into account when he picks future nominees for vacancies on the high court, in order to avoid choosing judges so controversial that Democrats consider themselves free to filibuster them.
Those who signed it said they hoped it would steer the Senate away from harsh fights in the future.
"In a Senate that has become increasingly partisan and polarized, the bipartisan center held," said Sen. Joe Lieberman, a Connecticut Democrat.
The agreement may be popular with the public. A USA Today/CNN/Gallup Poll released Monday showed that more than half of respondents wanted the filibuster preserved as an option, though many also wanted the judges at the heart of the matter to get votes.
Solid majorities said leaders of both parties were acting more like "spoiled children" than "responsible adults," and Frist's personal approval ratings were low. Only 26% of the survey's respondents rated him favorably, compared with 24% who rated him unfavorably. About a third had never heard of him, and 18% had no opinion.
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