Key Democrat Assails GOP's Threats to Filibuster

WASHINGTON — A historic confrontation over the federal courts and the rights of legislative minorities continued to escalate Saturday, as a key Democrat sharpened his criticism of Republican threats to eliminate the filibuster for judicial nominations.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada charged that barring the use of the filibuster against court nominees would reduce the Senate to "a rubber stamp for the president."

"When it comes down to it, stripping away these important checks and balances is about the arrogance of those in power who want to rewrite the rules so that they can get their way," Reid said in the weekly Democratic radio address.

Reid's remarks underscored the growing tension in Washington over judicial nominations.

Frustrated by Democrats' use of the filibuster to block 10 of President Bush's first-term nominees to the federal appellate courts, GOP leaders are considering changing Senate rules to prohibit the parliamentary tactic for judicial nominations. Currently, 60 votes are required to break a filibuster. New rules would allow Bush's nominees to be confirmed with 51 votes.

Since the GOP has 55 senators, that would mean Democrats could not block Bush court nominees -- including a potential nomination for a Supreme Court vacancy -- unless they persuaded at least six of the Republican lawmakers to join them. That would be a huge hurdle, given the reluctance of senators to vote against nominees from a president of their own party.

But some Republicans remain uneasy about eliminating the filibuster, which has provided a last line of defense for legislative minorities throughout Senate history. As a result, aides on both sides say neither party appears certain it has enough support to prevail if Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) brings the rules change to a vote.

Conservatives -- especially those who focus on social issues -- are pressuring the Senate leadership to implement the rules change. Those demands have grown louder since state and federal courts refused to order the reinsertion of a feeding tube for Terri Schiavo, the brain-damaged Florida woman who recently died.

Last week, leading social conservatives denounced the courts at a conference in Washington. Some called for impeaching federal judges and excluding entire areas of law, such as same-sex marriage, from their jurisdiction.