WASHINGTON -- The Senate was poised Tuesday to confirm Ted Stewart as Utah's newest federal judge -- even though controversy over his nomination earlier shut down all confirmations twice.
However, Democrats were howling about GOP blocks against two California judges for whom they wanted votes at the same time as Stewart. They had held Stewart's nomination hostage for weeks unsuccessfully trying to force such votes.And some Republicans were complaining about a proposed judge in Missouri who they say is soft on the death penalty but for whom a vote was allowed by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, in exchange for a vote on Stewart.
The Senate debated the nominations Monday night, and final votes on Stewart -- the Republican chief of staff to Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt -- and two other Democratic nominees were scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.
No senator is opposed to Stewart. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said, "Despite strong opposition from some corners from Utah and around the country from environmentalists and civil rights activists alike, I do not oppose and did not oppose his nomination in committee."
Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, who managed the debate because Hatch was campaigning for president in California, said support from Leahy should guarantee Stewart's confirmation.
Bennett said that while some environmental groups opposed Stewart for attacking President Clinton's secretive formation of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, they should realize he was director of Utah's Department of Natural Resources at the time and was supporting his GOP governor.
Bennett, who ran against Stewart for the GOP Senate nomination in 1992, said Stewart has proper judicial temperament and as a judge "will never depart from his loyalty that the law comes first."
But some Republicans contended that another nominee -- cleared for a vote in a deal Hatch offered to allow a vote on Stewart -- too often ignores the law and tries to impose his own will instead.
Sen. John Ashcroft, R-Mo., led opposition to the nomination of Ronnie White as a federal judge in Missouri. White now sits on that state's Supreme Court.
Ashcroft said 77 of 114 local county sheriffs opposed it because of his frequent opposition to the death penalty and decisions they contend are too friendly toward criminals -- including trying to order a new trial for a man who killed two sheriff's deputies and the sheriff's wife.
Meanwhile, Democrats led by Leahy and Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., howled that some Republicans were still blocking votes on two nominees for the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals -- Richard Paez and Marsha Berzon. Paez's nomination has been stalled almost four years, and Berzon's has been stalled for two.
"We should be voting on Paez and Berzon. It's unfair," Leahy said. "If you are a minority or a woman, it takes longer to be confirmed, if you are ever confirmed by this Senate, than if you are a white man."
Right-wing Republicans have blocked them contending that Paez is a judicial activist and that Berzon is a liberal ideologue.
While that led Democrats to hold Stewart's nomination hostage for weeks to try to force a vote on him, Hatch countered by shutting down the confirmations of all other nominees.
As adjournment for the year approached, Democrats finally released holds on Stewart in exchange for restarting the confirmation process for judges other than Berzon and Paez.
Tuesday's vote will end a yearlong ordeal of nominating and confirming Stewart -- which at some points moved lighting quick, and at others dragged on for months.
Hatch pushed President Clinton hard to nominate Stewart, even though Stewart is a Republican. Clinton stalled after Stewart was opposed by environmental groups and Utah Democratic Party leaders.
Eventually, Hatch shut down consideration of all of Clinton's other nominees until the president finally agreed to nominate Stewart if he passed an FBI background check and an American Bar Association review of his legal qualifications.
Once Clinton nominated him, Hatch required only 48 hours to have a confirmation hearing for Stewart and to pass his nomination through the Judiciary Committee. Then it stalled again when Democrats used him as a hostage to force votes on others.
Stewart -- a former aide to Rep. Jim Hansen, R-Utah -- was also chairman of the Public Service Commission, a quasi-judicial body that regulates utilities. It issued 1,500 decisions while he was a commissioner, and he said only four were reversed by courts.
Utah Democrats opposed his nomination, saying he did not have enough experience. Stewart acknowledged he appeared in court as a lawyer only once early in his career but did other legal work. The American Bar Association also rated him as qualified to be a judge.
Meanwhile, in Utah Leavitt has been considering for some time who will replace Stewart as chief of staff.
Deputy chief of staff Vicki Varela, who is one of the few top staff people still remaining who came into office with Leavitt, said she will not be the new chief of staff.
Varela has also taken on the volunteer job of regional campaign chairwoman for Texas Gov. George W. Bush's presidential bid and says she can't take on new duties for Leavitt at this time.
"Chief of staff is a detail job; you have to smooth over feelings to reach consensus, concentrate on working through many problems. I prefer to stay on the policy side" of the Leavitt administration, Varela said.