GOP Hopes for Another Smooth Confirmation

WASHINGTON - Now that John Roberts is assured of becoming the newest Supreme Court chief justice, Republicans are pointing to the conservative judge's confirmation process as the way future candidates should be treated.



"The same rule, the same tradition, the same process should continue to be the process for the next nominee," said Sen. Jon Kyl (news, bio, voting record), R-Ariz., chairman of the Senate Republican Policy Committee.

Roberts, who will be confirmed on Thursday with support from almost three-fourths of the 100-member Senate, has gone through the Senate relatively unscathed from the day Bush tapped him as the nation's 109th Supreme Court justice.

"If being intelligent, brilliant, a superb lawyer, the greatest legal mind of your generation and well qualified is not enough, what is?" said Sen. Lindsey Graham (news, bio, voting record), R-S.C., a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Despite complaining about the White House's decision to withhold his documents from his time as deputy solicitor general and Roberts' refusal to fully answer their questions during his confirmation hearing, the Senate's Democratic leadership decided not to try to delay Roberts' confirmation or to attempt a filibuster.

Almost two dozen Democrats are supporting the conservative judge as the successor to the late William H. Rehnquist. "He is a person of outstanding ability and strong character who possesses in my view a deep commitment to the law and the principle of equal justice for all," said Sen. Christopher Dodd (news, bio, voting record), D-Conn.

But senators are expecting a more partisan fight over Bush's replacement for retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. She often has been a swing vote, a majority maker whose replacement could signal a shift on the court on many contentious issues including abortion and affirmative action.

Bush has promised to nominate justices in the mold of Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, two of the court's most conservative members. Replacing O'Connor, who was considered a moderate, with a hard-right conservative would move the court further to the right.

"I fear this nominee and the next nominee will shift the court to that far right extreme," said Sen. Mark Dayton (news, bio, voting record), D-Minn., one of the Democrats who opposes Roberts.

Republicans are calling on Democrats to treat the next nominee just as Roberts was treated. "It seems to me that on this particular nomination we conducted ourselves well, and hopefully we can do that again," said Sen. Mitch McConnell (news, bio, voting record) of Kentucky, the Senate's no. 2 Republican.

Roberts answered all the questions he could without forecasting how he would vote as chief justice, and Democrats should not expect the next nominee to answer questions that Roberts wouldn't just because the next nominee is to replace O'Connor, Kyl said.

"I hope there is not a double standard here and that people who support John Roberts today, based on the fact that he answered the questions as fully as he could, would hold the next nominee to a higher standard," Kyl said.

Democrats contended on the Roberts nomination that the White House did not do enough consultation. Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada said he would reserve judgment on how the consultation has gone for the second seat.

"We'll see who they give us, and that'll answer that question," Reid said. "You don't need a lot of consultation if the person you're consulting with listens to you, so we'll see."

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