Blogs for Bush: The White House Of The Blogosphere: Justice (Alito) Delayed

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November 03, 2005

Justice (Alito) Delayed

Despite President Bush's call to start hearings on Judge Alito's nomination to the Supreme Court soon and have him confirmed by the end of the year, the hearings will not begin until January 9th.

"It simply wasn't possible to accommodate the schedule that the White House wanted," said Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., the committee chairman. He outlined a timetable that envisions five days of hearings, followed by a vote in committee on Jan. 17 and the full Senate on Jan. 20.
"It's far more important to do it right than fast," said Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy, the senior Democrat on the committee. "In this case, I suspect we're doing both."

Honestly, I do not believe Specter. Had Harriet Miers not withdrawn, her hearings were expected to begin before Thanksgiving... I don't believe Specter made any effort to accommodate Bush's request.

UPDATE, by Mark Noonan: It seems that Senator Specter has a lot of time on his hands, so perhaps we can all give him a call at (202) 224-4254 and have a chat with him. You might want to ask him just why doing it right means not doing it until next year.

Posted by Matt at November 3, 2005 10:46 PM

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Comments

Many of the gang of 14 need more time to see if the Alito nomination is extra-ordinary... but is it not some kind of an oxymoron to think that the extra-ordinary requires some special talent to be perceived? If it doesn't stand out as being different upon the first glance, how extra-ordinary can it be?

Posted by: wizard61 at November 3, 2005 11:04 PM

I agree. Wish we could get the supreme court nomination behind us and move on to the important issues facing our country -- like fixing the deficit, illegal immigration, the health care crisis, the pension crisis, the wars in iraq and afghanistan, illegal immigration, the energy crisis, the trade deficit, all of these problems seem to get worse every day and no one wants to talk about them.

since this is a "blog for bush" -- can you tell me specifically what part of the massive federal budget he wants to cut to reduce the humongous deficit that has accrued under his watch. Also, can you explain why he has failed to veto even one of the many pork-laden bills that the republican congress has sent to his desk. In fact, he recently said he opposed removing any of the pork from the recently signed transportation bill. Please, do you have any answers for me. I am a conservative and a republican, but for the life of me, I don't know why i ever voted for Bush.

Posted by: John at November 4, 2005 12:00 AM

I can't imagine the President or the Congress being too upset about this delay. Does anyone really believe that the Republican leadership will be eagerly tackling the deficit or illegal immigration any time soon? The Miers nomination laid bare the principled frustration that exists, across issues, in many corners of the Republican support base. This frustration is not going to go away.

The longer Judge Alito is out there, the longer the attention is focused on something that is a net positive for the Administration and the R's in Congress.

Posted by: Ganesh at November 4, 2005 09:48 AM

The confirmation hearings have been delayed because there are three cases coming before the court prior to the middle of January '06. Specter, Leahy et al do not want a change in the makeup of the court until after those cases are decided. This has nothing to do with the Senate's calendar and everything to do with the court's.

Posted by: Don at November 4, 2005 10:14 AM

just made my call to specter's office.

Posted by: Beth Barnat at November 4, 2005 10:36 AM