WASHINGTON -- U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., backed away Thursday from press reports suggesting he had warned the White House about the slant of future judicial nominees.
"I did not warn the president about anything and was very respectful of his constitutional authority on the appointment of federal judges," Specter, who is presumed to be the next chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in a statement.
"I have never and would never apply any litmus test on the abortion issue and, as the record shows, I have voted to confirm Chief Justice (William) Rehnquist, Justice (Sandra Day) O'Connor and Justice (Anthony) Kennedy and led the fight to confirm Justice (Clarence) Thomas," Specter said.
Specter said he would hold judiciary committee hearings "within thirty days of a nomination, a vote out of committee 30 days later, and floor action 30 days after that."
The Washington Post Wednesday quoted Specter as saying: "The president is well aware of what happened, when a bunch of his nominees were sent up, with the filibuster ... And I would expect the president to be mindful of the considerations which I am mentioning," which the Post identified as "Senate Democrats' success over the past four years in blocking the confirmation of many of Bush's conservative judicial picks."
