Cheney Yanks White House Into Filibuster Fray
WASHINGTON — The White House broke its silence Friday on the congressional battle over judges, with Vice President Dick Cheney pledging to side with Senate Republicans in their possible bid to prevent Democrats from filibustering judicial nominees.
Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada responded angrily to Cheney's remarks, accusing President Bush of breaking his word that the administration would not intervene in the conflict.
"Last week, I met with the president and was encouraged when he told me he would not become involved in Republican efforts to break the Senate rules," Reid said. "Now, it appears he was not being honest, and that the White House is encouraging this raw abuse of power."
Cheney, who as president of the Senate could play a key role if Republicans move forward with what has become known as the nuclear option, told a group of Republican lawyers that if his vote was needed, he would back a controversial rule change preventing filibusters of nominees to the federal bench.
"The decision about how to proceed will be made by the Republican leadership in the Senate, but if the Senate majority decides to move forward and if the issue is presented to me
There had been little doubt that Cheney would support Senate Republicans if they decided to push ahead with the rule change. But his decision to take a public stance -- and Reid's vociferous response -- illustrate the heightened attention to a confrontation that both parties describe as increasingly unavoidable.
Cheney would be expected to preside over the chamber if Republicans press for a vote on barring the filibuster for judicial nominees. In case of a 50-50 vote, he would break the tie.
The filibuster is the use of debate to keep an issue open for an indefinite period. The filibuster cannot be broken without the votes of 60 senators, and Republicans number 55. As a result, a minority of 41 senators could effectively block an issue or a nominee from coming to a vote by refusing to end the debate.
Democrats note they have used the filibuster to block 10 of 205 judges Bush has nominated to the federal bench. They argued that those 10 would have pursued an extremist conservative agenda.
Cheney, in his remarks to the Republican National Lawyers Assn., summarized the GOP case against the filibuster of judicial nominees, calling it "an attempt to limit a president's ability to appoint judges who have majority support in the United States Senate."
