Washington – Senate Democrats on Sunday promised a drawn-out confirmation and perhaps a filibuster for Samuel Alito if the Supreme Court nominee evades or refuses to answer their questions on abortion, presidential war powers and other issues at this week’s confirmation hearings.
“If he continuously, given his previous record, refused to answer questions and hid behind ‘I can’t answer this because it might come before me,’ it would increase the chances of a filibuster,” Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Democrats say they will not decide whether to filibuster or try to delay a committee vote until after the committee’s week-long hearings, which begin today.
If Democrats attempt a filibuster based on Alito’s answers on abortion, at least one Republican is ready to vote for Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist’s plan to ban judicial filibusters.
“I would consider that not only not an extraordinary circumstance but a threat to the independence of the judiciary, and I would stop it in its tracks with my vote,” said GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.
Graham, who spoke on “Fox News Sunday,” is one of the 14 senators – seven from each party – who joined together to end an earlier Senate showdown over the stalling tactic for the president’s judicial nominees.
That group of centrist lawmakers, including Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., decided last year to support such filibusters only under “extraordinary circumstances.”
Alito will face at least two days of questioning from senators; the nominee and the lawmakers planned to give their opening statements at noon EST today.
In Philadelphia on Sunday, conservatives rallied at “Justice Sunday III” in favor of reforming the federal courts.
Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, the No. 3 Senate Republican, told the gathering that liberal judges are “destroying traditional morality, creating a new moral code and prohibiting any dissent.”
“The only way to restore this republic our founders envisioned is to elevate honorable jurists like Samuel Alito,” Santorum said.
The Rev. Jerry Falwell and Focus on the Family founder James Dobson also attended the gathering at Greater Exodus Baptist Church. Focus on the Family is based in Colorado Springs.
