Washington – The Senate on Wednesday approved the nomination of Priscilla Owen as a federal appellate judge, ending a four-year battle over the Texas jurist and marking the first tangible results of a bipartisan Senate agreement on judicial appointees.
The 55-43 vote fell mainly along party lines, a reminder of the deep ideological divisions that persist over President Bush’s judicial nominations, despite the deal forged Monday by seven Republican and seven Democratic senators that dodged a showdown over efforts to change a rule to deny the Democrats the right to filibuster.
The deal allowed up or down votes on Owen and two others whose nominations have been held up for years – William Pryor of Alabama and Janice Rogers Brown of California. However, the fate of a handful of other nominees, including William Myers and Henry Saad, remains in doubt. Lawmakers say the big question now is whether the agreement – reached without the backing of Senate leaders – will stick once Owen, Pryor and Brown are all approved.
Colorado’s two senators split on the Owens vote: Wayne Allard, a Republican, voted for the confirmation, and Ken Salazar, a Democrat, voted against it.
Bush said after the vote that Owen, 50, a Texas Supreme Court justice, would bring a “wealth of experience and expertise” to the federal bench.
“I urge the Senate to build on this progress and provide my judicial nominees the up or down votes they deserve,” Bush said.
Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said in a written statement that “we cannot stop with this single step” and revived the so-called nuclear option – a threat to deny Democrats their right to filibuster judicial nominations – if the Democrats violate the agreement.
“We must give fair up or down votes to other previously blocked nominees,” he added. “It is the only way to close this miserable and unprecedented chapter in Senate history.”
Many senators in both parties who did not participate in the negotiations are unhappy about the Monday night deal – Democrats because they believe that Owen, Pryor and Brown are too conservative, and Republicans because too many other nominees are left hanging.
