Some Conservatives Concerned About McCain's Potential Judicial Nominees Because Gang Of 14 Membership

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Article Date: 26 Feb 2008 - 7:00 PDT

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Some conservatives, including James Dobson, have expressed concern about who Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) might nominate to judicial posts after his participation in the Gang of 14 in 2005, the New York Times reports.

The Gang of 14 -- a group of seven Republicans and seven Democrats -- agreed to prevent a Senate vote on banning filibusters of judicial nominees except in "extraordinary circumstances," the Times reports. The agreement was reached after Democrats had filibustered 10 of President Bush's judicial nominees and after Republicans had threatened a rules change to require a simple majority vote to approve judicial nominees.

According to the Times, some conservatives believe the agreement "undermined" Republican leadership because the party was about to eliminate the ability to use filibusters to block judges. On the other hand, McCain and other members of the group have said their actions helped to avoid a potential constitutional crisis and led to the confirmation of Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, as well as several federal appeals court judges.

Some conservatives believe McCain as president could use judicial appointments as a "bargaining chip" to reach policy compromises with a Democratically controlled Congress, according to the Times. They want the senator to affirm he would appoint only "like-minded judges," the Times reports. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), who is supporting McCain in the presidential race, said of the potential Senate vote on banning filibusters: "We had the votes to put both parties on the spot [that] whoever is president, Republican or Democrat, has a right to appoint and we have the right to vote up or down."

McCain said, "A whole lot of people applauded what we did. We got them all done without a filibuster." He added that he is "proud of [his] advocacy of Alito and Roberts" (Hulse, New York Times, 2/25). Earlier this month at the Conservative Political Action Conference, McCain reiterated his opposition to abortion rights and said he would appoint strict constructionist judges to the Supreme Court (Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 2/8).

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