White House Bars Litmus Test on Justice

President Bush’s opposition to abortion remains unchanged but “there will be no litmus test on specific issues” in his search for a Supreme Court nominee, Bush’s spokesman said today.

White House Press Secretary Marlin Fitzwater said Bush will meet with key advisers each day through the week as he ponders a successor to retired Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan.

“He wants the best candidate, the most qualified candidate, a person of experience and temperament and wants to pursue that search for a person with the least constraints possible,” Fitzwater said.

Asked whether Bush will insist on knowing the abortion views of his court nominee, Fitzwater said: “We can’t define what the specific philosophy would be of the candidate.”

“You can expect that he would look for someone who favors a faithful interpretation of the Constitution as opposed to seeing the court as a legislative tool. (But) there will be no litmus test on specific issues,” Fitzwater said.

“The President’s views on the issue have not changed. But there will be no litmus test,” Fitzwater said. Bush opposes abortion except to protect the life of the mother or in cases of rape and incest.

Fitzwater said Bush still intends to name his choice as quickly as possible and already has “a fairly well defined list of people who are qualified” from which to work.

Bush met with Atty. Gen. Dick Thornburgh today and other top advisers after holding similar meetings over the weekend. Fitzwater said the President planned to meet frequently with Thornburgh, Chief of Staff John H. Sununu and White House counsel C. Boyden Gray as he narrows his list.

In addition, Bush called four congressional leaders over the weekend to get their views on a nominee, Fitzwater said. They were Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell (D-Me.), Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.), House Speaker Thomas S. Foley (D-Wash.) and House Minority Leader Robert H. Michel (R-Ill.).

“I think it’s fair to say that most of the candidates we are looking at have judicial experience” and have already undergone review by the American Bar Assn., Fitzwater said.

Meanwhile, key senators say President Bush should shun ideologues and look for solid judicial experience in his choice. But even so, congressional leaders are suggesting that abortion is likely to be a focal point in Senate debate no matter who the President selects.

“If the President sends up somebody committed to overturning Roe vs. Wade, there will be a battle,” Sen. Howard M. Metzenbaum (D-Ohio) said today. If the nominee is not committed to an anti-abortion position, he added, “I think such a person will be confirmed if he has a decent balanced background.”

Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), appearing with Metzenbaum on NBC’s “Today” show, said no one issue “should be a determinant on a person’s future on the Supreme Court,” and predicted that the Judiciary Committee, on which he and Metzenbaum both sit, will not ask direct questions on a nominee’s position on abortion.