WASHINGTON – Reacting to a Democratic offer in the fight over filibusters, Republican leader Bill Frist said Tuesday he isn’t interested in any deal that fails to ensure that the Senate votes on confirmation for all of President Bush’s judicial nominees.
Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid had been quietly talking with Frist about confirming at least two of Bush’s blocked nominees from Michigan in exchange for withdrawing a third nominee. This would have been part of a compromise that would have the GOP back away from a showdown over changing Senate rules to prevent Democrats from using the filibuster to block Bush’s nominees.
But Frist, in a rare news conference conducted on the Senate floor, said he would not accept any deal that keeps his Republican majority from confirming judicial nominees that have been approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“My goal is to have fair up and down votes. Are we going to shift from that principle? The answer to that is no,” Frist said.
Finally. Gumption.
Something that’s seriously lacking in the hallowed halls of our Senate.
Source: AP via Yahoo