Senate GOP to try to end debate, force Alito vote

WASHINGTON - Die-hard Democratic critics of Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito on Thursday made plans to prevent a vote on his confirmation, and Republicans countered with a move designed to force his approval by early next week.

“It is time to establish an end point” in the debate over President Bush’s selection to replace Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, said Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn.

Democrats’ concern over Alito’s nomination has been heightened because he would replace Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who has been the swing vote on 5-4 rulings that maintained abortion rights, preserved affirmative action and limited the application of the death penalty.

Conservatives agree that Alito could push the court to the right, but they welcome the prospect.

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., the 2004 Democratic presidential candidate, is cutting short a trip to Switzerland to fly back to Washington Friday to lead the filibuster effort. A filibuster, or endless debate, would stop Alito from ever getting a vote and would effectively kill his nomination.

But centrist Democrats such as Sen. Ken Salazar of Colorado and Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana have said they oppose a filibuster of Alito, and it seems very unlikely Kerry could persuade 40 other Democrats to support one.

Earlier Thursday, Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois — the party’s chief vote counter — told an audience at the National Press Club it was “highly unlikely” that a filibuster would succeed.

Under Senate rules, 41 senators are needed to keep a filibuster going. A vote on ending debate on the nomination is set for Monday afternoon, with a final vote on the nominee set for Tuesday morning.

“I don’t think that a filibuster is worth trying under these circumstances,” Salazar said Thursday afternoon before word of Kerry’s trip back from Switzerland was announced. “I don’t think a filibuster here will ultimately prevail.”

But despite opposing a filibuster, Salazar said Thursday he would vote against Alito’s confirmation.

As of Thursday night, three Democratic senators have said they will vote for the Alito nomination, so he has more than the 51 votes he needs to be confirmed.

“The amount of political energy that would be consumed in a fight over the filibuster followed by the fight over the ‘nuclear option’ would very much distract the Congress from the business it should be doing,” Salazar said. “I think we need to move on” to other matters, he said.

Under the so-called nuclear option, touted last year by Frist, the Senate would vote to abolish filibusters of judicial nominees.

Kerry was in Davos, Switzerland, Thursday to give a speech at the World Economic Forum, but planned to fly back to Washington early Friday morning, cutting short his trip to Europe.

One former Kerry adviser urged Democrats to back Kerry.

‘Most extreme nominee’
“There’s a very real chance to get those 41 votes,” said former Kerry campaign strategist Bob Shrum on MSNBC’s “Hardball.” Shrum called Alito “the most extreme nominee to the Supreme Court since Clarence Thomas” and added, “When you have that kind of a guy, if you can’t use the filibuster then, you can’t use it any time.”

Activists on the left wing of the Democratic Party have been urging Senate Democratic leaders to use the filibuster to stop Alito.

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