Talkathon over; Democrats block judicial nominees
GOP attempt to end-run filibusters loses in overtime
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Senate Republicans Friday failed to break a Democratic filibuster on the nomination of Texas Supreme Court Justice Priscilla Owen.
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- After nearly two days of round-the-clock debate, Senate Republicans Friday failed to break Democratic filibusters on three of President Bush's nominees to federal appellate courts.
The three are Texas Supreme Court Justice Priscilla Owen for a seat on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals; Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Carolyn Kuhl to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals; and California Supreme Court Justice Janice Rogers Brown to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Fifty-three lawmakers voted to break the filibusters and proceed to a vote on the nominations. That was seven votes short of the 60 needed under Senate rules. The Owen vote was 53-42, and the Kuhl and Brown votes were 53-43.
In protest of Democratic filibusters of Bush's judicial nominees, Republicans kept the Senate in session from Wednesday night until Friday morning, forcing Democrats to stay on the floor at all times to keep their filibusters going.
The 53 votes to end the filibusters Friday was exactly the tally in support of ending the filibuster against Owen back in July, when Republicans last tried to break it. So after 40 hours of continual talk, not a single vote changed.
GOP senators were trying to advance the Kuhl and Brown nominations for the first time.
Democrats also had been using the Senate filibuster rule to block the nominations of U.S. District Judge Charles Pickering of Mississippi, also to the 5th Circuit; and Alabama Attorney General William Pryor to the Atlanta-based 11th Circuit.
A sixth Bush nominee blocked by Democrats for more than two years, Miguel Estrada, withdrew his nomination to the D.C. Circuit.
The marathon session began Wednesday night and continued through Friday morning. It originally had been scheduled to wrap up at midnight Thursday, but Republicans -- moved by a spirit of party unity -- opted to extend the debate so more senators could speak.
"They must not have thought they made their point after 30 hours because they want now another nine hours. It's like at the end of of a nine-inning ballgame, they still want three or four innings because they are behind," Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-South Dakota, told CNN's "American Morning," referring to the GOP's extension of the debate. "They haven't made their point because the point can't be made."
Earlier, Daschle called the all-nighter "a colossal waste of time."
GOP senator: 'It is now time for the Supreme Court'
Sen. Lindsay Graham, the South Carolina Republican, argued that Senate rules "are being used in an unconstitutional manner."
"So I've made the decision as a United States senator to try to find some legal assistance and I'm going to take this to court. It is now time for the Supreme Court, if this continues and we don't break this filibuster, to give us their view of what is going on here."
Amy Call, spokeswoman for Majority Leader Bill Frist, said two freshman senators inspired the rest of the caucus to extend the debate to Friday morning.
"Senators Graham and [Norm] Coleman volunteered to stay through the night," said Call, "and then the rest of the Republican senators said they would stay, too."
Democrats say 98 percent of Bush's nominees have been confirmed, and the filibuster is a long-standing Senate rule to block ideological nominees who are out of the mainstream.
Democrats also say Republicans used filibusters to block far more of President Clinton's judicial nominations, and they accuse Republicans of making a big deal of the Democratic filibusters to make the Democratic Party look bad.
Ahead of the extended debate Wednesday, workers at the Capitol rolled in folding cots for senators who needed a brief nap. It was the first time in a decade the Senate remained in session all night long.
Democrats have criticized the Republicans for shutting down Senate business as a form of protest, at a time when major appropriations bills to fund government operations are still pending.
CNN Congressional Producer Steve Turnham contributed to this report.
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Associated Press contributed to this report.
