Posted on 11/13/2003 5:38:16 PM PST by Congressman Billybob
I've just watched half of the Senate debate on judicial nominations. As my wife said with great accuracy, before going off to bed, “Anyone who wants to watch that is deeply warped.” However, there are at least 5,000 people who are interested in this, as I know from talking with them on the Internet as the speeches played out.
By 4 a.m. Eastern, the debate had become largely repetitious, so now it's time to write the summary. The lead for the story should be the address by Senator Zell Miller (D, Georgia) about 1:30 a.m. The mainstream media won't feature that, so I will.
Miller began with a copy of the Constitution on a board behind him. He said, “Maybe it is a failing of these 71-year-old eyes, but I can't find anywhere in the Constitution the requirement that 60 Senators must approve a judicial nominee by the President.” He then proceeded to bring out a magnifying glass and used it as he examined the Constitution and began his talk.
It was a homey touch, which was to be expected from a man whose “official” photograph shows him in a flannel shirt and blue jeans on his front porch in North Georgia, flanked by two of his dogs. But Zell Miller's comments were serious, and on point.
The Senator next put up a board with a portrait of James Madison, generally credited as being “the Father of the Constitution.” Next to it was a quote from the Federalist, in which Madison opposed the idea of requiring a supermajority for the House of Representatives and condemned the idea of the tyranny of the minority.
Madison’s exact words were, “the fundamental principle of free government would be reversed. It would be no longer the majority that would rule: the power would be transferred to the minority.” That paragraph at the end of the Federalist, No. 58, concluded with the assertion that this “practice [would be] subversive of all the principles of order and regular government; a practice which leads more directly to public convulsions, and the ruin of popular governments, than any other which has yet been displayed among us.”
As he proceeded, Zell Miller quoted from a legendary speech by Senator Margaret Chase Smith on the floor in 1950. That speech, as he acknowledged, was not on the subject of the filibuster or judicial nominations. Still, it was highly relevant because it addressed the self-inflicted damage to the institution of the Senate, whenever it abandoned its own long-held traditions.
Senator Miller then spoke briefly of the five judicial nominees who have been kept off the bench by the filibuster tactics of the Democrats. They are Miguel Estrada, who withdrew his name after two years of delay, plus four more now under that same gun. And Miller then put up a board with photographs of these five nominees. Three are women, one of them black; two are men, one of them Hispanic. Zell Miller said, “Look at these nominees. This is the face of America.”
He ended by saying three times, his voice rising in the Chamber with each repetition, that the judicial nominees are “entitled to an up or down vote.”
There was a constant theme in the speeches by the Democrats who, unlike their colleague Miller, supported the idea that the Senate could and should filibuster judicial nominees so they never receive an up or down vote on the floor. All of them piously proclaimed that they were upholding their duty under the Advise and Consent Clause of the Constitution. One even quoted from the oath of office that all federal and state officials take, to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” I will not quote any of them by name. They richly deserve pubic condemnation for their position. But it would be unfair to condemn the ones I heard, while neglecting those yet to speak who will take the same position.
Here is the text of Article II, Section 2, which the Democratic Senators (excepting Miller) claimed to be following:
“[The President] shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States ....”
Over the course of two centuries the Supreme Court has consistently held that this clause means exactly what it says. Treaties must be approved by the required two-thirds vote, or they fail. On the other hand, wherever the Constitution does not require a supermajority, a simple majority is all that is necessary, such as approving all presidential appointments including judges. There are exactly five instances where the Constitution requires a supermajority. The Advise and Consent Clause itself demonstrates the distinction – since the first power specifies a supermajority, but the second one does not.
In six hours of debate by Democratic Senators (their half of the 12 hours so far), not one said or even suggested that the required majority to confirm a judge is anything other than 51 Senators if all 100 Senators are present. I doubt that any of the ones to come will suggest any such thing, because this answer is black letter law in the Supreme Court. And this is precisely the “up or down” vote that Senator Miller, and all the Republicans who spoke, insisted is the duty of the Senate as an institution.
However, all the Democrats who spoke, except Miller, insisted that they could use a filibuster against judges they opposed, which can only be ended by using the Cloture Rule. That Rule requires a vote of 60 Senators to shut off unlimited debate. It is a “hard” 60, that does not decrease if any Senators are absent.
None of the Senators in favor of using the filibuster against judges ever addressed the question of whether the Senate had the power under its own Rules to change the constitutional requirement of 51 votes in favor, into 60 votes in favor. And that's the central flaw in the Democratic argument.
They claim to be defending their constitutional powers by conducting a filibuster. They claim to be protecting the Constitution, when in fact they are spitting it.
I will abide my decision not to attack any of the Democratic Senators personally. But one is speaking as I write this, who has three times referred to James Madison as the source of the “cooling saucer” of the Senate. It was not Madison who said that, it was George Washington, as another Democratic Senator correctly said elsewhere in the debate. But this Senator is apparently so fond of hearing his own words that he is not listening even to his own colleagues.
It is absolutely correct that the Senate was established as a calming influence in the federal government. This was accomplished in two ways in the Constitution. The Senators were given the longest terms in office, six years, rather than the four years for the President or the two years for Representatives in the House. The second way was by staggering the terms of the Senators so no more than one-third of them would be up for election in any given election year. That way, temporary passions present in a single election could not possibly remove from office a majority of the sitting Senators. James Madison, in the Federalist, referred to such a sea change in just a single election as “the mere whim of a majority.”
Yes, the Senate was intended as the stabilizing fly wheel of the federal government. It was intended to provide continuity. But it was not intended to allow just 40 Senators to prevent the confirmation of any judges. That provision is purely a creature of the Senate Rules. It does not appear in the Constitution and is contrary to the express provisions of the Constitution.
If the Senate honestly wanted to require 60 votes as the minimum to confirm judges, it is capable of proposing an amendment to do that. If the House agreed, and the states as well, as required in Article V, that would become the new prerequisite. But the Senate acting on its own in writing its Rules, has no power or right to change the Constitution.
The conclusion is clear, and ominous. The Senators who support this filibuster of judges are lying about the Constitution, and lying about the proper role of the Senate. And until their effort has its back broken, both the Constitution and the institution of the Senate will remain in grave danger, not just here and now, but for all times to come.
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About the Author: John Armor is an author and columnist on politics and history. He has been an active member of the Supreme Court Bar since 1976.
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John / Billybob
John / Billybob
James Madison did not dispute Monroe's criticism of the method of advise and consent.
Because it was a true and accurate statement.
Hey, but what was the Constitutional knowledge of the likes of Madison and Monroe compared to that of Schumer and Daschle?
(Did any of those Dem Senators who spoke of Madison mention that he wanted only a 1/3 vote of the Senate to approve appointments? I didn't think so LOL!)
Congressman Billybob good luck on your endeavor and I totally agree with you on Zell Miller's speech and presentation.
Article I, Section 5 of the Constitution provides in part: "Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings . . ."
If the Senate wants to, it can change its own rules and eliminate the filibuster altogether. I'm not sure either side really wants to do that, though, and I doubt very much that either side would be happy with any court that tried to interfere with the Senate's ability to make its own rules.
I've been hearing this same debate about the Senate's role in judicial nominations for decades. It's just inherently very political.
Again, good job!! ;-)
The best thing that has happened to this republic of ours is the internet and talk radio, our voices are being heard and they are far from insignificant. The 2000 electorial map of counties won by President Bush speaks volumes of the power conservatives have in this country and it's about time we shed some light on these socialist democrats who will stop at nothing to regain or retain power.
With advocates like you and many others, this country will be once again what our fore fathers had in mind when they drafted the 4 most powerful documents ever written.
Thanks John for all you do
Mike
John / Billybob 22 posted on 11/13/2003 9:59 PM EST by Congressman Billybob (www.ArmorforCongress.com Visit. Join.
If "emmy winning comedy writer" Al Franken can consider his book tour the obvious clamor, for him, to be Senator from some liberal midwestern state, you can surely aspire to be unanimous President of the USA, UN and EU (for good measure).
I mean, if AH- nuld could do it, why not me? (Franken must be rationalizing.)
What Franken doesn't realize is that he compares more favorably with AH-nuld physically than intellecually.
I agree that "holds" are a negative practice, especially when used anonymously. But I doubt that any court challenge to them would succeed, for two reasons: First, they are too minor, and second, they are a matter of internal Senate procedures under their Rules.
John / Billybob
They should at least cut out the filibuster in the case of appointments.
Great article!
However, I must vote with your wife. I went to bed rather than stay up with the chance to watch the likes of Chuck Schumer at 2 AM. Besides, my wife already knows I am warped so I didn't need to prove it!
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