Senate Deal Reached on Filibusters

In a rare act of compromise on Capitol Hill, a maverick group of seven Democrats and seven Republicans reached an agreement Monday that forced the Senate’s leadership to stand down from a confrontation over federal judicial nominees.

There was a palpable sense of relief in the Capitol’s corridors as the agreement was announced, with the lawmakers who struck the deal effusively congratulating one another.

“We have reached an agreement to pull the institution back from a precipice that would have had a damaging effect on the institution,” said Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who was among the leaders in the negotiations.

Another negotiator, Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), said: “This agreement is based on trust. We don’t know what’s going on in the future, but we do know we trust one another.”

Republicans had planned to act today to use a controversial procedure, presided over by Vice President Dick Cheney, to change Senate rules to deny Democrats the ability to filibuster judicial nominations.

The move had become known as the “nuclear option” because of the destructive effect it was expected to have on the work of the Senate.

Instead, the Senate was expected to move today to orderly confirmation votes on some of President Bush’s stalled nominations to the federal bench.

The agreement specifically will allow votes on three of five stalled nominations, including Texas Supreme Court Justice Priscilla R. Owen, whose nomination to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans was the nominal cause for the showdown over the filibuster.

The other two are California Supreme Court Justice Janice Rogers Brown, nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., and William H. Pryor Jr., nominated to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta.

The senators who signed the agreement braced for a backlash from activists on the right and the left who had denounced compromise as selling out to the other side.

“People at home are going to get very upset with me for a while,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), one of the negotiators. But he added that the agreement would lead to a “Senate that functions for the common good.”

Socially conservative groups had lobbied heavily for an end to the filibuster for judicial nominees, and their leaders were quick to blast the agreement.

James Dobson, head of Focus on the Family, said: “We share the disappointment, outrage and sense of abandonment felt by millions of conservative Americans who helped put Republicans in power last November. I am certain that these voters will remember both Democrats and Republicans who betrayed their trust.”

Some Democrats also criticized the compromise.

Sen. Russell D. Feingold (D-Wis.) said the agreement was “not a good deal.”

“Democrats should have stood together firmly against the bullying tactics of the Republican leadership abusing their power as they control both houses of Congress and the White House,” he said. “Confirming unacceptable judicial nominations is simply a green light for the Bush administration to send more nominees who lack the judicial temperament or record to serve in these lifetime positions.”

Under the compromise, the seven Democrats agreed not to support efforts to filibuster Bush’s future nominees, except under “extraordinary circumstances.” That’s enough to deny the minority the votes to sustain a filibuster.

For their part, the seven Republicans agreed not to lend their votes to the drive led by Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) to change Senate rules to break the Democrats’ judicial filibusters. That’s enough to deny Republicans the majority they need for such a rules change.

In addition, the 14 signers called on the president -- who had kept largely silent as the confrontation built -- to consult more with members of both parties on his judicial nominees.

The White House indicated it viewed the deal as a positive development even though it provided no assurance that future Bush nominees would receive a floor vote.

“Nominees that have been waiting for a long time for an up-or-down vote are now going to get one,” said White House spokesman Scott McClellan. “That’s progress. We will continue working to push for an up-or-down vote on all our nominees.”

McClellan declined to comment on the section of the agreement calling on the president to consult more with Congress in advance of future nominations.

The push to change the filibuster rule had been a priority for Republicans as both parties braced for a likely Supreme Court vacancy.

Democratic leader Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada said the agreement met his fundamental requirement that the principle of minority filibusters -- whether for legislation or for nominations -- not be affected.

“The ‘nuclear option’ is off the table,” Reid said in a hastily called news conference after the compromise was announced. “We have sent President George Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and the radical arm of the Republican base an undeniable message: Abuse of power will not be tolerated, and attempts to trample the Constitution and grab absolute power are over.”

Frist insisted the opposite, that the agreement raised the bar for when filibusters were appropriate, and that Republicans could reactivate their plan to change the Senate rules if Democrats used the stalling tactic too liberally.

“There is no need at present for the constitutional option,” he said, using the Republican term for proposed rule change. “But with this agreement, all options remain on the table, including the constitutional option.”

The senators signing the agreement were a coalition of well-known moderates, traditionalists and a sprinkling of freshmen.

In addition to Pryor, the Democrats were: Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia, Daniel K. Inouye of Hawaii, Ken Salazar of Colorado, Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and Mary L. Landrieu of Louisiana.

In addition to McCain and Graham, the Republicans were John W. Warner of Virginia, Mike DeWine of Ohio, Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, and Olympia J. Snowe and Susan Collins, both of Maine.

During Bush’s first term, Democrats filibustered 10 of the president’s 52 appellate court nominees, complaining he had chosen conservative ideologues without consulting with the minority party. Bush resubmitted seven of the nominees, and Democrats said they again planned to block them. The resubmitted nominees included Owen, Brown and Judge Pryor.

If the rules change preventing the filibuster had succeeded, Democrats threatened to bring much of the GOP’s legislative agenda to a near-halt.

As part of the agreement, two of the controversial nominees Bush resubmitted -- William G. Myers III to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco and of Henry W. Saad to the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Detroit -- would remain stalled.

The remaining two among the nominees Bush resubmitted -- Richard A. Griffin and David W. McKeague, both nominated to the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Detroit -- were not specifically named in the agreement because Democrats had already agreed to lift the filibusters blocking their votes.

The confrontation over Bush’s nominees had brought front and center the use of the filibuster, made famous in the 1939 film “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.”

It takes 60 votes to end debate, which means a minority of 41 of the 100 senators can stall a vote indefinitely by refusing to do so.

In practice, filibusters no longer need a senator to refuse to relinquish the lectern. All that’s needed is for 41 senators to say they will vote against ending debate for a filibuster to be in effect.

Republicans said that the filibuster, although appropriate for blocking legislation, was unfair when it denied a confirmation vote on a judicial nominee. Legislation can be amended, they said, but nominees are entitled to an up-or-down vote in which a simple majority either confirms or denies them.

Democrats argued that the filibuster was a legitimate tool to block confirmations and that they had used it only against Bush nominees they objected to as “extremists.” They had charged Republicans with abusing their majority power by seeking to change the filibuster rules.

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Times staff writers Mary Curtius, Warren Vieth and Edwin Chen contributed to this report.