Harriet Miers, nominated by the President to fill a vacancy on the US Supreme Court, currently lacks the votes for her confirmation by the US Senate.
WASHINGTON: Harriet Miers, nominated by President George W Bush to fill a vacancy on the US Supreme Court, currently lacks the votes for her confirmation by the US Senate, despite an intense White House campaign to sell her candidacy, lawmakers from both parties acknowledged.
The shortfall could presage another political problem for the president, who unexpectedly ran into opposition from fellow Republicans questioning not only Miers’s conservative credentials, but also her grasp of constitutional law. Since her nomination on October 3, Miers, a former head of the Texas Bar Association and now legal counsel to Bush, has been making the rounds of Capitol Hill, talking to members of the Senate Judiciary Committee while the president and his aides used every opportunity to promote her candidacy. So far, it appears, to no avail.
“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,” said Democratic Senator Charles Schumer, told NBC. He said he was aware of only one or two members of the committee, who firmly support the nominee right now and that hearings set to begin November 7 would be a make-or-break undertaking for Miers.
“I think you have concern on these three areas — qualification, independence, judicial philosophy — by people of both parties and all political stripes,” Schumer pointed out.
Arlen Specter, Republican chairman of the committee, confirmed the votes were not there at this time, and Miers would have to perform persuasively during the hearings to win over lawmakers. “People haven’t made up their minds. I haven’t made up my mind,” he said.
US conservatives are concerned that with her choice of Miers Bush might be missing a unique opportunity to alter the make up of the Supreme Court that is expected to rule in the future on such key social issues as abortion, gay rights and minority preferences. They believe the nominee, who has never worked as a judge, has no persuasive track record on any of these issues and could not be counted on to lend unwavering support to conservative causes.
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