GOP Squeaks Through Olson’s Confirmation as Solicitor General

Still in charge for now, Senate Republicans rushed Thursday to push through conservative attorney Theodore B. Olson’s confirmation as solicitor general by a narrow vote, in the face of attacks from Democrats on his hard-line politics and his candor.

The 51-47 vote marks a hard-fought win for Olson in his ascension to a coveted job as the figurative “10th justice” on the U.S. Supreme Court, charged with arguing the federal government’s cases before the high court. Five months ago, he won the biggest case of his career in convincing the Supreme Court to side with his client, George W. Bush, in the Florida election battle.

And for Republicans, the vote represents one of their final hurrahs as the ruling party in the Senate before ceding control to Democrats in the coming weeks because of Vermont Sen. James M. Jeffords’ dramatic abandonment of the GOP.

Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft, pleased by the Olson vote, said afterward: “I trust that he will serve our country with honor, with his eyes on the Constitution and his objectives above politics. . . . His talents will be a crucial component in our goal to make certain that no American feels beyond the protection of the law.”

Many political observers thought the Democrats’ takeover might doom President Bush’s solicitor general nomination, which had deadlocked in the Senate Judiciary Committee last week on a party-line vote.

But Republicans brought the issue to a head Thursday while they still controlled the floor, a move that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) branded “raw political partisanship.” Democratic leaders realized they didn’t have the votes to defeat the nomination and didn’t have the stomach to try to block it through a filibuster.

Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) approached Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, on Tuesday to see whether he would fight an effort to bring Olson’s nomination to a vote.

“I told him I would not,” Leahy said in an interview. “I didn’t want to get involved in those kinds of parliamentary games. We’ve seen enough of that for six years” under a Republican-controlled Senate.

The politicking mirrored the confirmation of Olson’s future boss, Ashcroft, who was approved on a 58-42 Senate vote in February. Democrats mounted an aggressive attack against Ashcroft but ultimately decided not to try to block a vote through a filibuster.

In Olson’s win, Democratic Sens. Zell Miller of Georgia and Ben Nelson of Nebraska proved the decisive votes, crossing over with all 49 Republicans who were present in voting for confirmation. Jeffords and Sen. John D. “Jay” Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.) missed the vote.

“Clearly there were 51 votes for him, so you run into the same dynamic you had with Ashcroft, and the only way to kill the nomination was to filibuster,” said a senior Democratic aide who asked not to be identified because of controversy surrounding the nomination.

“At this point, I don’t think that the soon-to-be majority leader [Democrat Tom Daschle of South Dakota] wants to have to worry about something like Olson when we assume the reins of power,” the aide said.

But other current and prospective nominees may not be so lucky.

Two candidates for judicial slots who will likely be hurt by the Democratic takeover are Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach) and Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Carolyn Kuhl, who have been discussed as nominees to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. It’s unclear whether California’s two Democratic senators, Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, would support either candidate.

“With the Democrats in charge and if both senators say no, there’d be no chance of [Cox’s possible nomination] going through,” predicted one leading Democrat.

Olson, a former Los Angeles attorney and a graduate of UC Berkeley’s Boalt Hall School of Law, has risen to legendary status in conservative circles as a preeminent legal mind, taking on high-profile cases on causes such as school desegregation and voting rights. The former Justice Department official is currently a Washington-based partner at the blue-chip Los Angeles law firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.

He has earned high marks from all sides for his legal acumen, but his right-wing politics came under sharp attack from Democrats during his protracted confirmation.

Drawing the fiercest debate were his links to a conservative magazine called American Spectator. He wrote anonymous articles for the magazine in recent years attacking Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton and then-Atty. Gen. Janet Reno. And despite Olson’s denials, Democrats alleged that he may have played an active role in the $2.4-million Arkansas Project, the magazine’s conservative-financed effort aimed at digging up dirt on the Clintons.

The Democrats’ attacks continued Thursday leading up to the vote.

Leahy said he did not think Olson had been “completely truthful” about his involvement in the Arkansas Project and had minimized his role for the sake of political cover.

“The doubts and questions about Mr. Olson have grown over time,” Leahy said, adding that he did not have confidence that Olson could put aside his partisan politics in representing the U.S. government before the Supreme Court.

Olson will have significant sway in deciding the Justice Department’s position before the court on a wide range of controversial issues, including affirmative action, abortion rights and civil rights.

Republicans said they expect him to do the job admirably.

“He is a real professional. . . . Mr. Olson is a constitutional scholar of the highest order,” Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) said. Being picked to represent Bush in the Supreme Court battle for the White House, he added, was as high an endorsement as a lawyer could receive.