Sen. Hatch vows to wage 'war' for nominees

WASHINGTON — Sen. Orrin Hatch vowed Tuesday to wage the political equivalent of nuclear war to end Democratic filibusters against conservative judicial nominees who are minorities, saying they suffer a "new form of liberal discrimination."

"They are treating these people just like dirt — and it gets particularly bad when they treat minorities as though they've got to have a particular (liberal) mindset or they are out of the mainstream of American jurisprudence. That's pure bunk and everybody knows it," Hatch, R-Utah, said.

That came in a press conference where Republicans vowed to escalate pressure against Democrats who are blocking votes on eight GOP appeals court nominees, most of whom are minorities. Democrats contend all are so right-wing they may not be able to put aside personal feelings and follow the law on such things as abortion.

But Hatch, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said, "The Democrats are claiming that anyone who is conservative, who is a person of color, who is pro-life, is outside the mainstream of American jurisprudence — and it is pure, unmitigated bunk."

Republicans, who hold 51 of the Senate's 100 seats, have been unable to stop the Democratic filibusters. That would require a three-fifths majority, or 60 votes. Still, conservative groups recently criticized Hatch for not doing more to attack Democrats for using such blocks against appeals court nominees for the first time in history.

Amid that criticism, Hatch and several other Republican senators said Tuesday they will now increase speeches against Democrats, hold more "cloture" votes to try to limit debate and even force some all-night sessions to draw attention to the situation.

But in the end, Hatch said Republicans will likely need to use what many call the "nuclear option" because it would infuriate Democrats so much that they would shut down the Senate for the year in retaliation.

In that option, Republicans would call for a point of order to contend that the Constitution requires only a simple majority to confirm judges — so requiring a supermajority of 60 votes to stop filibusters against them is an unconstitutional abuse of rules.

The chair's ruling would surely be in Republicans' favor, since a Republican always presides while that party holds the majority. Democrats could appeal the ruling, but only a simple majority is needed to sustain it, which Republicans likely have. Final votes on all blocked judges would then be forced.

"I think that's what it's going to come down to so we can have an up-or-down vote on these people," Hatch said. He added, "The Democrats have threatened to 'blow up' the Senate if that happens (with delaying tactics to stop all work). That's how vicious this has become."