Filibuster of Lesbian Nominee Ends

Senate conservatives agreed Thursday to halt their efforts to delay a vote on the nomination of Roberta Achtenberg to a senior post in the Clinton Administration, clearing the way for the San Francisco gay activist’s confirmation early next week.

After two days of extraordinarily bitter debate in which senators came close to trading personal insults on the floor, Republican conservatives led by Sen. Jesse Helms of North Carolina reached agreement with the Senate leadership to vote on Achtenberg’s nomination on Monday afternoon.

Achtenberg, chosen by President Clinton to serve as assistant secretary for fair housing at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, is expected to win her confirmation and become the first openly declared lesbian to be appointed to a high federal office.

Aided by a handful of Republican conservatives, Helms began a filibuster on Achtenberg’s nomination Wednesday--assailing her as a militant “extremist” unfit to serve in the federal government because of her public promotion of an “immoral” lifestyle.

Democrats, led by California Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, rushed to Achtenberg’s defense, accusing Helms of trying to smear the San Francisco attorney’s reputation with “unseemly, untrue and nasty allegations.”