FILIBUSTER SHOWDOWN AVERTED!!!

WOO-HOO!!! No, it's not perfect. And now we have three more disastrous members of the Circuit Court benches. But above all, the right to filibuster has been preserved. And the Gang of Twelve plus the Very Hons. Robert Byrd and John Warner virtually guarantee that no extremists will be appointed to SCOTUS. [UPDATE: read another take here.]

"Senators Reach Deal on Filibuster"
Small Group Reports Compromise To Avoid Showdown Over Judicial Nominees

By William Branigin and Dan Balz, Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, May 23, 2005: 8:23 PM

Fourteen Republican and Democratic senators announced this evening they had reached a compromise designed to prevent a showdown over President Bush's judicial nominations.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), speaking for the group of seven Republicans and seven Democrats, announced the agreement at a news conference at 7:40 p.m.

Under the deal, the Democrats agreed to accept cloture votes on three of President Bush's judicial nominees: Priscilla R. Owen, Janice Rogers Brown and William Pryor.

In return, the Republicans pledged not to support the so-called "nuclear option" to end the ability of the minority to use filibusters to block nominees.

The group of senators, including Democrats Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Robert Byrd of West Virginia, said the Senate leadership had signaled it would go along with the compromise.

The Democrats made no commitments regarding two other conservative judicial nominees, Henry Saad and William Myers.

"In a Senate that is increasingly polarized, the bipartisan center held," said Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.).

"The Senate is back in business," echoed Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

Word of the agreement came after leaders of both parties indicated they expected the dispute to come to a head tomorrow, and Bush reiterated his insistence on "an up-or-down vote" for his nominees.

Earlier in the day, as senators trooped to the floor for a fourth day of speeches for and against Bush's choice of Owen for a federal appeals judgeship, negotiators convened in McCain's office in the last-ditch effort to work out a compromise that would avert the so-called nuclear option maneuver.

Without the compromise, it had been expected that the leadership of the majority Republicans would move tomorrow to effectively end the minority Democrats' ability to use filibusters to block judicial nominees. If that step were taken, Democrats have warned, they would shut down most business in a chamber that operates largely by unanimous consent.

A vote on a motion to cut off debate had been scheduled to be held about noon tomorrow, Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) announced.

If at least 60 of the Senate's 100 members voted for cloture, the body could then proceed to a vote on Owen. If not, Frist planned to make a point of order that debate on a judicial nominee should be limited and ask Vice President Cheney, as the presiding officer of the Senate, for a ruling. That would lead to a vote that, if Frist prevailed, would effectively set a new precedent by requiring a simple majority, instead of 60 votes, to end judicial filibusters. This would also circumvent the Senate requirement of a two-thirds vote -- 67 senators -- to change the body's rules.

In a floor speech this morning, Frist said that "cloture would yield a fair up-or-down vote." He said that "the American people expect us to act" on nominees and described the choice as being between "judicial obstruction or fair up-or-down votes."

Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) asserted that Owen has already had at least three votes on the Senate floor. He said the votes were on "whether or not we should stop debating her" and that three times the answer has been no.

Later, Reid was asked about the prospects of a compromise before tomorrow's vote.

"Well, I would hope that something can still be worked out," he told reporters. "But I think each day that goes by, the possibility's less. I think the odds of something being worked out now are very, very remote."

In an appearance at the White House with the visiting Afghan president this morning, Bush rejected Democrats' efforts to prevent his nominees from receiving a vote by the full Senate.

He said he has chosen nominees who "will bring great credit to the bench" and that he has been "consistent with judicial philosophy in my picks." Bush added, "And I expect them to get an up-or-down vote. That's what I expect. And I think the American people expect that, as well. People ought to have a fair hearing, and they ought to get an up-or-down vote on the floor."

During today's floor debate, Byrd of West Virginia implored fellow senators to "step back from the precipice" and refrain from triggering the nuclear option. "I'm deeply troubled," he said. "I'm almost sick about it."

Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.) charged that "the extreme right of the Republican Party is attempting to hijack the federal courts."

But Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Tex.) argued that Republicans are only trying to restore the traditional requirement of a simple-majority vote for the confirmation of judges. "No one on our side of the aisle has even suggested that minority rights be overrun," she said.