Panel Rejects Nominee for Justice Post : It Could Be Fatal Blow to Reagan’s Choice of Reynolds for No. 3 Job

In a meeting punctuated by shouting and name calling, the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday delivered what could be a fatal blow to President Reagan’s attempt to promote his civil rights chief, William Bradford Reynolds, to the Justice Department’s No. 3 post.

In three votes, the Republican-controlled panel decided 10 to 8 against recommending Reynolds’ confirmation as associate attorney general and then, in two 9-9 splits, refused to send his name to the full Senate with no recommendation or even an unfavorable one.

The committee’s action represented a sharp setback for Reagan, who involved himself personally by devoting a recent Saturday radio broadcast to defending Reynolds and by telephoning some undecided Judiciary Committee members to seek their support.

Although it is still possible for the full Senate to vote on Reynolds’ nomination, it would have to pass a resolution to “discharge” it from the committee--an action the chamber has never taken on a nomination. Thus, Reynolds’ chances for confirmation seem to have all but vanished.

Reagan’s Disappointment

Both Reagan and Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese III telephoned Reynolds to express their confidence in him and issued statements reflecting their deep disappointment over the committee’s action. But neither dealt with the question of whether Reynolds’ nomination would be withdrawn.

One Administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that “is an unsettled question.” It was learned that an early draft of Reagan’s statement included the declaration that Reynolds remains the nominee. As issued, however, the statement dropped those words, stating only that “Mr. Reynolds retains my full faith and confidence.”

Reynolds, meanwhile, reiterated his vow to remain as head of the Justice Department’s civil rights division if his promotion is not confirmed.

Meese Personnel Moves

The blocking of Reynolds’ appointment would upset a series of personnel moves Meese is planning that would move the Justice Department sharply to the right. It would also seem to assure that such appointments would be more closely scrutinized than ever by the Judiciary Committee, which approved Meese only after two sets of lengthy hearings and an investigation by an independent counsel.

Reagan, in his statement, attributed the committee’s action to an attack on his Administration’s civil rights policies, which include opposition to both court-ordered busing to achieve school desegregation and employment quotas to combat job discrimination.

Two Republicans, Sens. Charles McC. Mathias Jr. of Maryland and Arlen K. Specter of Pennsylvania, lined up with the committee’s eight Democrats in casting the 10 votes that killed the motion to recommend Reynolds’ confirmation.

‘Above the Law’

Specter had claimed that Reynolds’ testimony about his actions in a voting rights case was misleading and that Reynolds had placed himself “above the law” by taking legal positions that have been rejected by several courts of appeal. Mathias said he felt Reynolds had departed from the approach that Congress has taken for 20 years of guaranteeing civil rights.

The voting touched off fireworks in the normally tranquil committee, with Sen. Howard M. Metzenbaum (D-Ohio) and Sen. Howell Heflin (D-Ala.) getting into shouting matches with committee Chairman Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.).

Heflin, a former chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, assured Reynolds’ defeat when he broke his weeks-long silence Thursday and announced his opposition. Citing his study of the transcripts of Reynolds’ testimony, Heflin said: “The issue with me is credibility.”

Voting Rights Cases

The allegations of Reynolds’ lack of credibility chiefly concerned voting rights cases in Louisiana, Mississippi and Georgia. For example, during the hearings Specter produced an internal memorandum Reynolds had written that appeared to conflict with subsequent testimony Reynolds gave the committee on March 1, 1982, in hearings on other matters.

Specter charged that Reynolds gave the impression in his testimony that he viewed a voting rights situation in Burke County, Ga., as a violation of the law. But the memorandum Reynolds had written to Solicitor General Rex E. Lee earlier contended that there had been no violation and said the department would be justified in defending local voting officals against charges of racial discrimination.

Mathias and Specter were joined in voting against recommending Reynolds’ confirmation by all of the panel’s Democrats: Sens. Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware; Robert C. Byrd, West Virginia; Dennis DeConcini, Arizona; Heflin; Edward M. Kennedy, Massachusetts; Patrick J. Leahy, Vermont; Metzenbaum, and Paul Simon, Illinois.

Republicans who voted for Reynolds were: Sens. Jeremiah Denton of Alabama; John P. East, North Carolina; Charles E. Grassley, Iowa; Orrin G. Hatch, Utah; Paul Laxalt, Nevada; Mitch McConnell, Kentucky; Alan K. Simpson, Wyoming, and Thurmond.