WASHINGTON — A Senate majority voted Thursday to confirm John Ashcroft to be attorney general, giving President Bush a victory in his first battle with congressional Democrats, who served notice they will try to defeat conservative nominees in the future.
With the roll call still under way, 51 senators had voted for Ashcroft's nomination, all but assuring Senate approval. The vote was extended to accommodate Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., who was returning to the Capitol from a family funeral.
Ashcroft had the support of all 50 Senate Republicans. Democrats labored to muster enough votes to show Bush they might be able to defeat conservative nominees in the future, particularly candidates for any Supreme Court vacancy.
"His nominees for the Supreme Court would better serve the nation if they came from the middle," said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.
The chamber's top Democrat, Minority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota, told reporters his party would cooperate on moderate nominations. "But we're going to be very concerned when they come from the far right, and we'll use whatever means necessary."
Democrats had hoped to raise 41 votes against Ashcroft — the number required to kill a nomination using the procedural delay of a filibuster.
In this case, Daschle said, Democrats abandoned the idea of a filibuster because Ashcroft, a Missouri Republican, is a former colleague, and because many believe a president deserves to choose his own Cabinet members, none of whom are lifetime appointees.
The widow who succeeded Ashcroft in the Senate, Democrat Jean Carnahan of Missouri, declared she would vote against her family's longtime political rival. Her late husband, Gov. Mel Carnahan, defeated Ashcroft posthumously after a plane crash during their campaign, and Jean Carnahan was appointed to what would have been his seat in the Senate.
Mrs. Carnahan said Ashcroft "was just too divisive for our country." She called her vote "an act of conscience."
Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut announced his opposition to Ashcroft, whom he said he has known for 40 years.
Lieberman, who as Democratic vice presidential nominee last year spoke frequently of his religious beliefs, denied conservatives' charges that Democrats' opposition has been sparked by Ashcroft's outspoken commitment to his own Christian views.
"On issues ranging from civil rights to privacy rights, Senator Ashcroft has repeatedly taken positions considerably outside the mainstream of American thinking," said Lieberman, adding later, "It is Senator Ashcroft's record, not his religion, we should judge today."
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said members of the Congressional Black Caucus told Bush Wednesday about their "deep passion" in opposing Ashcroft's nomination, but no one asked the president to withdraw it.
"They implored him to make certain that the Department of Justice enforces civil rights laws, and is sensitive to civil rights concerns. The president said, 'I hear you,'" Fleischer said. "He thinks John Ashcroft is a man of integrity. He is a good man and he will enforce the civil rights laws. He said he talked to John Ashcroft about this when selecting him."
Senate Majority Whip Don Nickles, R-Okla., said he was "bothered by the intensity of opposition" to Ashcroft.
"I have absolute, total, complete confidence that he is going to be one outstanding attorney general of the United States," Nickles said. "He's as qualified as anybody probably has ever been to be attorney general."
Ashcroft's confirmation would fill the Cabinet within 12 days of Bush's taking office. By contrast, it took President Clinton more than a month longer, until March 11, 1993, to confirm his final Cabinet member, Janet Reno, as attorney general.
Despite the near-certainty of Ashcroft's confirmation, Democrats labored to muster enough "no" votes to show Bush that Democrats could put up strong opposition to any potential Supreme Court nominee who, like Ashcroft, shared his conservative views on abortion and states' rights.
Frustrating the task were several Democrats who endorsed Ashcroft's nomination, including Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd, who declared his intention in a less-than-glowing terms late Wednesday.
While there is evidence Ashcroft "can be a healer," Dodd said, "I remain concerned that he will, as he appears to have done at times in the past, submit to the temptation to divide Americans along racial lines."
Criticism focused on Ashcroft's battles against abortion and against a school desegregation lawsuit while serving as Missouri governor and attorney general.
"It's his past willingness to bend and torture the law," said Schumer. "It is not simply what he said, but what he did when he had executive power."
Ashcroft's critics accused him of distorting the records of Clinton administration nominees James Hormel, the first openly gay U.S. ambassador, and Ronnie White, a black Missouri Supreme Court judge whose chances at a federal judgeship were scuttled by Ashcroft.
Ashcroft testified at his confirmation hearing two weeks ago that he opposed Hormel because he knew the nominee and because of the "totality of the record." He said he opposed White because the judge had a history of hostility to the death penalty.