Oct 24, 2005 6:42 am US/Eastern
Senator: Miers Lacks Votes To Be Confirmed
Too Many Unanswered Questions, Schumer Says
WASHINGTON (AP) ―
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Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York (File)
CBS
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Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers
WH
Two weeks before Harriet Miers begins confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee, a Democrat on the panel says she lacks the votes to win a Supreme Court seat.
Republicans countered that Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., cannot predict how the GOP-controlled Senate will decide Miers' fate. Many Republicans have yet to commit to approve President Bush's second nominee to the high court.
The hearings begin Nov. 7. Meanwhile, Schumer said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press," that lawmakers of both parties are concerned about Miers' independence and judicial philosophy.
"I think, if you were to hold the vote today, she would not get a majority, either in the Judiciary Committee or on the floor," he said. "I think there is maybe one or two on the Judiciary Committee who have said they'd support her as of right now," he said.
While Democrats pressed the White House to provide documents from Miers' work as the president's counsel, Republicans said the nomination that has riled conservatives is neither in trouble nor in danger of being withdrawn.
Judiciary Committee chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., rejected the notion that Miers' nomination was shaky. He said most senators are waiting for the hearings before making up their minds. "There are no votes one way or another," he said on CBS' "Face the Nation."
Another committee Republican, Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas, told "Fox News Sunday" that he has not seen "anything coming from the White House that says that they're going to pull this nomination."
Brownback, who has been skeptical of Miers and has not announced how he will vote, added, "They're doing everything they can to prepare Harriet Miers for the hearings right now."
Miers, a longtime Bush confidante who has never been a judge, was nominated to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. The choice has troubled some conservatives who say it was risky because Miers was a blank slate on issues such as abortion and gay rights.
Democrats, too, have expressed concerns about whether Miers could sever her close ties to Bush and rule independently once on the bench.
Presidential spokeswoman Christie Parell said Sunday the White House looks forward to the hearings and is confident that Miers will be confirmed.
GOP Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, one of Miers' strongest supporters and a Judiciary Committee member, criticized Schumer for trying to predict how senators would vote.
"This really represents a radical departure from the sort of civil and dignified process that we set up" during the hearings to confirm Chief Justice John Roberts, Cornyn said in a telephone interview. "To prejudge the nominee before she's even had a chance to participate in the hearing just strikes me as unfair."
Republicans hold a 10-8 majority in the committee.
"The hearings are going to be make or break for Harriet Miers in a way that they have not been for any other nominee," Schumer said. "And she's going to have to do real well there."
Schumer agreed with Cornyn and other Republicans that Bush is not considering withdrawing Miers' nomination despite a wave of negative publicity in recent days. "George Bush, say whatever else you want about him, does not back away from a fight," he said.
(© 2005 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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