Committee approves Alito nomination
on Jan 24, 2006 at 12:30 pm
The Senate Judiciary Committee, with all Republicans voting in favor and all Democrats opposed, agreed at 12:21 p.m. Tuesday to report the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Samual A. Alito, Jr., to the full Senate, with final action expected there before early next week. The Committee vote was 10-8 in Alito’s favor.
With debate on the floor opening Wednesday, the only question now is how many senators of either party will cross the line to vote differently from their party colleagues. It is already clear, though, that Alito will not get the support of half of the Senate’s 44 Democrats, as Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., did. So far, one Democrat, Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska, has indicated he will support Alito.
On the GOP side, the only uncertain votes at this point are those of three Republicans from the Northeast, Maine’s Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe and Rhode Island’s Liincoln Chafee. Each is a moderate Republican, and each has some concern about the future of the Supreme Court with Alito replacing Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. But those three have been given some political cover by the quite enthusiastic support of Alito’s nomination by the Judiciary Committee chairman, Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, another moderate and another supporter of abortion rights.
It became clear, throughout nearly three hours of speech-making by Judiciary Committee members Tuesday, that the nomination of Alito and some of the rhetoric and tactics of the confirmation hearings will be converted into political issues for this fall’s congressional elections. Several Republicans strongly suggested in their comments that they will seek to portray Democrats as bullies in their treatment of Judge Alito, a claim that they will buttress with the dramatic film footage of Mrs. Alito leaving the hearing room in tears. Several Democrats strongly suggested, in turn, that they will seek to make much politically of a sharp turn to the Right that they expect the Court to now make with Alito on the bench — voting, as they anticipate, right alongside the two most conservative Justices, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.
Advocay groups on both sides of the nomination of Alito lost no time joining in the political fray, issuing previously prepared position statements within minutes after the Judiciary Committee had completed its vote. Although liberal activist groups passionately want Democrats to stage a filibuster, that seems unlikely, at least as of now, because the GOP probably has the 60 votes to end a filibuster, and even a number of Democrats would fail to support that tactic.
Politics, it seems, is all that remains of the fight over Alito’s nomination, since no one, on either side, doubts that Alito will win at least the 51 votes in the Senate that are necessary to his confirmation. The final Senate vote may come Friday, or over the weekend, according to aides to Senate Republican leaders.
Indeed, political considerations are the main factor in arranging for the Senate’s final vote on Alito. Republicans want the vote to come before President Bush makes his State of the Union speech at 9 p.m. next Tuesday, so that the President can proclaim a significant victory in changing the Court as part of that message. Democrats have indicated they may try to prevent that from occurring, but doing so would be difficult, at best.
As of Tuesday, no plan has been officially made for Alito to take the two oaths — constitutional and judicial — and begin his service, leading to the retirement of Justice O’Connor. The Court is in recess until a scheduled private Conference on Friday, Feb. 17. Alito’s first day on the bench would be Tuesday, Feb. 21.
