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With a showdown looming over the filibuster of judicial nominees, now is the time to point out another abuse of the Senate's "advise and consent" power. It's called the "hold," whereby an individual Senator can delay indefinitely a Presidential nomination, and it is seriously interfering with the operation of the executive branch.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid doesn’t seem to get the fact that George W. Bush won the presidential election last November. He also doesn’t get that the Republicans picked up five seats in the Upper Chamber. That’s called a mandate. Despite this, Reid believes he can negotiate, or even dictate, which judicial appointments can be voted on in the Senate. That’s utterly preposterous, and it’s one of the many reasons why Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist must put Reid and the rest of the filibustering Senate Democrats in their place once and for all. There is no political or constitutional...

In a speech Wednesday to members of the MoveOn.org Political Action Committee, former Vice President Al Gore called possible attempts to change Senate rules on filibusters "a poison pill for America's democracy" and "a dangerous American heresy." Gore's speech was part of a nationwide series of "emergency rallies" organized by MoveOn.org members and the liberal Coalition for a Fair and Independent Judiciary to protest the possibility that Senate Republicans will use the "nuclear option" to bypass the filibuster of President Bush's judicial nominees. Democrats in the Senate are blocking several of Bush's nominees, and Republicans do not have the 60...

Internet inventor Al Gore launched another entertaining diatribe yesterday. His missives were, of course, directed towards the Republican effort to get simple up-or-down votes on President Bush's judicial nominees. You know, the way the Congress has been operating for only, oh, the last couple of centuries. Well, Mr. Gore says that the GOP has a "lust for one-party domination.' Dammit, someone revealed the secret! Who let it out that Rove and company have a lasvicious, carnal desire to crush the Democrats beneath a spiked boot heel? He also noted, in what was likely a nasally and monotonal whine, the GOP's...

Sen. Barbara Boxer is a longtime opponent of judicial nomination filibusters. Or she was. Suddenly the light has dawned, and she realizes how wrong she was to oppose them: "I thought I knew everything. I didn't get it. . . . I am here to say I was totally wrong." Other Democratic senators have had similar changes in belief: Joe Biden and Robert Byrd, Tom Harkin, Ted Kennedy, Joe Lieberman, Pat Leahy, Chuck Schumer and their erstwhile colleagues Lloyd Bentsen, and Tom Daschle have all vigorously opposed the use of the filibuster against judicial nominations. Mr. Schumer was for voting...

I find it hard to say this as a conservative, but the current Republican position on judicial filibusters is not in the long-term best interest of either the party, or our nation. And, unfortunately, our conservative leaders and pundits are demonstrating an almost incomprehensible myopia by advocating a procedural change that would prevent such a practice in the future. With those sentiments out of the closet, I can foresee e-mail messages flooding my inbox in much the same way as Obi-Wan Kenobi felt a shift in the force when Princess Leia’s home planet of Alderaan was destroyed by the Empire’s...

There is an undeniable fury building among Republican voters coast to coast. It has now been almost six months since that euphoric day last year -- November 2nd -- when Republicans stunned Democrats across the board. Not only did President Bush handily beat John Kerry, but the GOP did what few predicted -- it managed to pick up four seats in the Senate. John Thune's victory over Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle in South Dakota was extra sweet. That seems like six years ago, not six months ago. Talk to your average Republican voter today and you will find a...

As the Senate moves toward a major confrontation over judicial appointments, a strong majority of Americans oppose changing the rules to make it easier for Republican leaders to win confirmation of President Bush's court nominees, according to the latest Washington Post-ABC News Poll. GOP leaders are threatening a rules change to prohibit the use of filibusters to block judicial nominees and have stepped up their criticism of the Democrats for using the tactic on some of Bush's nominees to the federal appellate courts. They say they are prepared to invoke what has become known as the "nuclear option" to assure...

Remarks by Majority Leader Bill Frist, M.D. Family Research Council Telecast April 24, 2005 Tony, thank you. And good evening to all of you. The judicial nominations debate has created quite a bit of controversy. Emotions are running high on both sides, and it reveals once again, our country's desperate need for more civility in political life. All of us who are active in politics -- whether Republican or Democrat -- need to remember the lesson of Ronald Reagan -- that we can disagree without being disagreeable. Now let me tell you about a disagreement that is going on in...

Hypocrite - noun, one who pretends to be what he is not or to have principles or beliefs that he does not have. The Democrats' efforts to block President Bush's qualified judicial nominees are not only hypocritical but are examples of partisan politicking at its worst. Republicans in the Senate are working to ensure that all of President Bush's judicial nominees receive a fair and final up-or-down vote. Despite Senate history and tradition, Democrats are aggressively trying to prevent qualified judges from receiving what's been afforded every judicial nominee for over 200 years. During the Clinton Administration, Democrats demanded up-or-down...

Conservative disappointment with Republican leaders is growing and the reason is straightforward and easy to comprehend. They are not doing the jobs that we elected them to do. Despite the Republicans holding the majority in both Congressional branches, the RINOs (Republicans In Name Only) have joined the minority Dems who are making a strong push toward running Congress. John Bolton’s nomination is in jeopardy, due largely to the RINO faction (illustrative are statements made by Senators John McCain and Arlen Specter) again wimping out and “expressing concern” at his nomination to the UN Ambassadorship; because Bolton might be “too tough”...

Clockwise: Priscilla R. Owen, William G. Myers III, Terrence W. Boyle, Richard Allen Griffin, William H. Pryor, Jr., Brett M. Kavanaugh and Janice Rogers Brown. Click on the photos above to see the resumes of these qualified judges. Democrats' Double Standardhyp·o·crite -- n. One who pretends to be what he is not or to have principles or beliefs that he does not haveThe Democrats' efforts to block President Bush's qualified judicial nominees are not only hypocritical but are examples of partisan politicking at its worst. Republicans in the Senate are working to ensure that all of President Bush's judicial...

Myth: U.S. Senate Republicans are attempting to abolish all filibusters. Fact: Republicans are seeking to restore the advice and consent constitutional obligations of the Senate for judicial nominees -- not eliminate the legislative filibuster (filibusters on bills or amendments) -- even though Democrats have supported in the past abolishing all forms of filibusters. In 1995, Democrats (Bingaman, Boxer, Feingold, Harkin, Kennedy, Kerry, Lautenberg, Lieberman, and Sarbanes) wanted to end the legislative filibuster. In 1995, the only senators on record supporting the end of the legislative filibuster were all Democrats, nine of whom are still serving in the Senate.

ALERT: Sen. John Kerry is upset about the Senate Democrats' filibuster of President Bush's conservative judicial nominees. He's not upset about the fact that the judicial filibuster is unconstitutional. He's not upset about the fact that a minority is blocking a simple "up-or-down," "yes-or-no" vote on these nominees. He's not upset that these liberal Democrats are stopping the United States Senate from fulfilling its constitutional duty to "advise and consent" on judicial nominees. NO... he's upset that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist is speaking out AGAINST the filibusters, at a Christian conference on the all-important issue of reining in our...

The best way to understand the brouhaha over the Republican plan to invoke the constitutional option to prohibit Senate filibusters to thwart judicial nominations is that Democrats are very poor losers, but Republicans are even poorer winners -- so far. The reason we're even talking about a so-called " nuclear option" is that Democrat leaders remain in denial about their consistent drubbing at the ballot box. They won't accept that the public has rejected their message. They are acting like the ornery little brother who hits his older brother, and when big brother merely threatens to hit back, he goes...

The liberal war against President Bush’s judicial nominees continues—and the battle is heating up among Senate Republican leaders to bring an end to the filibustering of good judges. Two of these fine judges are Texas Supreme Court Justice Priscilla Owen and California Supreme Court Justice Janice Rogers Brown. Both of their nominations have been blocked for years by left-leaning Senators. In Rev. Sheldon’s recent commentary on the liberal efforts to keep decent judges from receiving a full vote in the Senate, he noted: “The screeching leftist special interest groups like People for the American Way have worked hand in glove...

WASHINGTON - The Republican-controlled Senate is moving closer to a showdown over whether Democrats can continue filibustering President Bush's judicial nominees now that two of the White House's favored court appointees are scheduled for final committee approval. Texas judge Priscilla Owen and California judge Janice Rogers Brown, who were blocked by Democrats during Bush's first term, were up for approval by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday. Owen, nominated by Bush for a seat on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, and Brown, seeking a lifetime slot on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in the...

MYTH-FACT: JUDICIAL NOMINATIONSDemocrats Pair A Message Of Myth With Unprecedented Obstruction, While Republicans Work To Give Qualified Nominees A Fair Vote _______________________________________________________________________________________  Myth #1:  Senate Republicans Are Attempting To Abolish All Filibusters.   Fact:  Republicans Are Seeking To Reestablish The Senate's Traditional Role In The Judicial Nomination Process, Not Eliminate All Filibusters, An Initiative Some Democrats Have Supported In The Past.  In 1995, Democrats (Bingaman, Boxer, Feingold, Harkin, Kennedy, Kerry, Lautenberg, Lieberman, And Sarbanes) Wanted To End The Filibuster.  In 1995, the only Senators on record supporting the end of the filibuster were all Democrats, nine of whom are still...

WASHINGTON - While the Senate is near open warfare over minority party filibusters of judicial nominees, senators acting alone are blocking some of President Bush's other choices for top government jobs with little protest. Democratic senators have in place or are threatening to place "holds" on Bush's nominees to head three key agencies — the Environmental Protection Agency, the Food and Drug Administration and the office of the U.S. Trade Representative. In each case, the chokehold is being applied not to defeat the nomination but to raise an issue important to the objecting senator. "I do this with a heavy...

Dear Friend: A day of decision is upon us. Whether it was the legalization of abortion, the banning of school prayer, the expulsion of the 10 Commandments from public spaces, or the starvation of Terri Schiavo, decisions by the courts have not only changed our nation's course, but even led to the taking of human lives. As the liberal, anti-Christian dogma of the left has been repudiated in almost every recent election, the courts have become the last great bastion for liberalism. For years activist courts, aided by liberal interest groups like the ACLU, have been quietly working under the...