A Secret Deal to Vote Down Owen, Brown, or Pryor?
So, you think Owen, Pryor, and Brown will all make it, eh?
Howard Bashman certainly does:
The deal expressly guarantees up-or-down votes, and thus confirmation, for D.C. Circuit nominee Janice Rogers Brown, Fifth Circuit nominee Priscilla R. Owen, and Eleventh Circuit nominee William H. Pryor, Jr.
Really?
Confirm Them goes so far as to congratulate “Judge William H. Pryor Jr.”
Slow down there, hoss.
A Kevin Drum commenter says that, according to Lindsey Graham on MSNBC, one of Owen, Pryor, or Brown will be voted down on the floor.
Has anyone else heard this? I can’t find a transcript. I wouldn’t put it past the traitorous seven to agree to help vote down one of the three . . .
I’ll put it in the “rumor bin” for now, but it certainly has the ring of truth.
UPDATE: In the comments, Beldar (who saw the interview) says that Graham was just saying confirmation of nominees who are getting a vote will not be automatic. He could easily have been referring to Saad, whose goose was likely cooked anyway.
This really scares me. I’m a big fan of Janice Rogers Brown, and as I said on my blog, if this is true, I fear it’s Brown who’ll be betrayed. But would Sen. Graham be stupid enough to acknowledge such a betrayal on national TV? Never mind, forget I asked. They are — clearly — the stupid party.
Richard G. Combs (3dbee5) — 5/23/2005 @ 10:56 pm“I’ll put it in the “rumor bin” for now, but it certainly has the ring of truth.”
passes the david brooks “rings true” test!
actus (3be069) — 5/23/2005 @ 10:59 pmI heard the interview, but didn’t tape it. My recollection is that Graham said something to the effect that “Everyone’s assuming that all of the President’s nominees will win a majority vote if they get to the floor, and that’s not going to be the case.” But it wasn’t clear to me that he was referring to Brown, Pryor, and Owen; he could well have been referring to other nominees who haven’t yet gotten out of committee, and that was my assumption when I heard the interview. That would fit the way the NYT describes the “secret codicil” to the deal:
I know I need not caution you about considering the source, however.
Beldar (7616b3) — 5/24/2005 @ 12:20 amIf Republicans vote down Brown, Owen or Pryor, the reaction will make all the hand-wringing and anger over this “deal” look like a lone cloud on a sunny day. There will be a backlash, and it will be substantial – perhaps even unprecedented.
Glenn (5bedaa) — 5/24/2005 @ 4:54 amThis whole mess is very depressing. The fight is over the appointment of judges, which seems in itself inappropriate, somehow. After all, judges are supposed to be impartial, disinterested, objective, wise, and therefore able to serve as the final resort when politics cannot solve the problem. Judges are to be above politics, in other words. The concept of judicial review is based on these assumptions. — Hey! Hold it! Judicial review is not in the Constitution, is it? Come to think of it, it was defined and imposed by the federal supreme court…I wonder whether old John Marshall realized that he and his bretheren were politicizing the judiciary….
L. Barnes (658c8b) — 5/24/2005 @ 8:51 amhehe.
Nothing has changed. all the agreement says is they get to go for a vote, not that they will be confirmed. But, I don’t think that is a problem.
but, nothing has changed! If they abuse the filibuster again, Frist says he will still pull the trigger. So we are all back to square one hoping they will all work and play well with others.
Yeah, good luck. anything is possible I suppose.
I don’t want either side to have the filibuster on judges. I believe in the actual definition of “advice and consent”. look it up.
The Uncooperative Blogger (7a8ca5) — 5/25/2005 @ 12:00 amJudge Owen confirmed! See the voting here: http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=1&vote=00127 and here: http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=1&vote=00128
Charles D. Quarles (593219) — 5/25/2005 @ 4:44 pm