A "deal" that is easy to frefuse on judges

MSNBC:

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist ruled out Tuesday a deal with Democrats on confirming some of President Bush’s judicial nominees whom they’d blocked last year, in return for other nominees’ being withdrawn.

Democratic sources had floated the idea Monday of a potential trade-off.

“My goal is to have fair up-or-down votes on judicial nominees,” he told reporters at a morning briefing. When reporters asked about a compromise, Frist said, “if the question is ‘are you going to shift from that principle (of up-or-down votes on nominees), the answer is no.”

Frist said he would not ask President Bush to withdraw any of his nominees to the federal bench. He added, “At the end of the day, one will be left standing — the Constitution, which allows up-or-down votes — or the filibuster.”


Even if Frist loses on the vote to prevent filibusters he can still make the Democrats filibuster until they give in.

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