WASHINGTON -- The Senate ended Friday a two-week game of chicken over judicial nominees -- with Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, proclaiming victory over Democrats who had blocked confirmation of Ted Stewart as Utah's newest federal judge.
"They finally agreed to the deal I offered them two weeks ago," Hatch said. That allowed Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott to schedule a final vote on Stewart for next Tuesday.Democrats had held Stewart's nomination hostage to try to force a vote on two controversial nominees to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in California -- Richard Paez and Marsha Berzon.
In retaliation, Judiciary Committee Chairman Hatch and Republicans said they would block all of President Clinton's judicial nominees -- and cancel all hearings on them -- until Stewart is confirmed.
After two weeks of standoff as Congress neared adjournment for the year, Democrats finally lifted their block of Stewart in exchange for votes on four non-controversial Democratic nominees, plus a pledge also to vote on others soon.
But Democrats did not win the votes they sought for Paez and Berzon. Right-wing GOP members have blocked them saying that Paez is an activist who doesn't follow the law and that Berzon is a liberal ideologue.
"We ended up doing what we had proposed all along," Hatch said.
"They knew I gave them more than a reasonable offer to give them two more district and two circuit judges in this round" plus a pledge to move more of Clinton's nominees before year's end, Hatch said.
He added, "I think some of my colleagues realized they had erred in drawing lines in the sand and that their position threatened to do lasting damage to the Senate's confirmation process, the integrity of the institution and the judicial branch."
Democrats grumbled as they ended their procedural filibuster.
Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., complained Republicans were being unfair in blocking Paez -- whose nomination has been pending for four years -- and Berzon, whose nomination has languished for more than two years.
"For anyone to be held that long is just extraordinary unfairness," he said.
He added, "I would hope that our (GOP) colleagues drop their holds, and recognize that taking hostages in this form is not the right way to proceed" -- even though Democrats, too, had taken Stewart's confirmation hostage for a time.
Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, also complained that Republicans seem to delay confirmations of minorities and women much more than white men.
Lott said in response that he would continue to work with senators to see if compromises could be reached to allow votes on Paez and Berzon.
That ends the second time that controversy over Stewart's nomination had shut down all other confirmations.
Hatch shut it down once earlier to prod Clinton into nominating Stewart, a Republican, who is chief of staff to Gov. Mike Leavitt.
Clinton had initially been receptive to the idea of Stewart, but developed cold feet when environmental groups opposed him because Stewart had criticized Clinton's secretive formation of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument when he was director of Utah's Department of Natural Resources.
Also, the Utah Democratic Party had opposed Stewart saying he has too little experience. Most of his judicial experience comes from years as chairman of the Public Service Commission, a quasi-judicial group that sets utility rates.
Daschle said in a Senate speech that some Democrats will oppose Stewart on Tuesday, but he expects his nomination to be confirmed. Hatch said few members have any trouble with Stewart's nomination and predicted an easy win.