Biden ‘Politicizing’ Hearings on Bork, White House Charges

WASHINGTON — The White House today accused Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, of politicizing confirmation hearings on Supreme Court nominee Robert H. Bork after a committee spokesman said the Delaware Democrat will lead the opposition to the conservative appeals court judge.

Spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said President Reagan believes it is “regrettable that (Biden) has chosen to politicize the hearings in this kind of partisan fashion.”

Fitzwater said Reagan also regretted “that we wouldn’t be able to have a full court when the term starts” in October because of a decision of committee Democrats to defer hearings until September.

“We are hopeful that they will reconsider,” he said, adding that the White House had been told that Republican leaders will press for an earlier start of the hearings.

Asked how Reagan assessed Bork’s prospects, the spokesman said, “We believe that when the committee hears his testimony in the confirmation process, that he will be confirmed.”

Senate Democrats announced Wednesday that confirmation hearings on the nomination will not begin until Sept. 15, almost assuring that the court will begin its next term Oct. 5 with a vacancy. (Story on Page 27.) Republicans had proposed that the hearings begin this month and conclude before the Senate recesses Aug. 7. The Senate does not reconvene until after Labor Day.