Hatch forces committee vote to approve judicial nominee

WASHINGTON — As raucous Democrats and Republicans accused each other of everything from religious bias to theft, Sen. Orrin Hatch forced a vote — over Democratic protests — to approve Wednesday another controversial judicial nominee.

By a party line vote of 10-9, the Senate Judiciary Committee endorsed the nomination of Alabama Attorney General William Pryor to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, and sent it to the full Senate. Democrats said they will likely filibuster it there.

Liberals attack Pryor for being pro-life on abortion; accuse him of fighting civil rights for gays, women and the disabled; and question whether he lied in his confirmation hearing when he denied raising money for a GOP states attorneys general group from tobacco and other companies that his office were likely to investigate.

Meanwhile, Committee Chairman Hatch, R-Utah, and Republicans said Democrats' attacking Pryor for his religious views on abortion would also disqualify most other Catholics and religious Christians from service on the courts. Some Republicans accused Democrats of even stealing some documents to attempt to set "a perjury trap" for Pryor.

When Hatch finally called for the vote, Democrats tried to block it by invoking a committee rule that they say prevents a vote unless at least one member of the minority agrees to hold it. They wanted a few more weeks to investigate allegations of perjury against Pryor.

Hatch said votes on Pryor had been delayed for weeks, so Democrats had plenty of time for their probe, which he said has found nothing concrete so far. He also said their interpretation of the rule is in error, and that it is designed to allow the minority to force a vote if a chairman refuses it, rather than to prevent the chairman from calling a vote.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said that vote procedure used, plus ideological misgivings about Pryor, will almost surely lead Democrats to filibuster him in the full Senate. "I would be surprised if we didn't, but I have to talk to my colleagues," he said.

Democrats have for months been filibustering two other circuit court nominees, Miguel Estrada and Priscilla Owens, both of whom also are pro-life and conservative.

Some of the most rancorous debate Wednesday came as Republicans and Democrats sparred over whether the other was improperly injecting religion into the debate on Pryor.