WASHINGTON (ABP) — Religious conservatives are raising loud objections to the elevation of a pro-choice Republican to the chairmanship of the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee.
Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter is in line to become the committee's new chairman when the 109th Congress convenes next year. Sen Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), the previous chairman, was scheduled to turn over the reins because of term limits the Senate Republican Conference had imposed on committee chairmanships.
However, when Specter spoke to reporters following his own re-election on Nov. 2, he appeared to warn President Bush against sending the Senate any far-right nominees for federal judgeships — particularly the Supreme Court.
“When you talk about judges who would change the right of a woman to choose, overturn Roe vs. Wade, I think that is unlikely,” he said, according to published accounts.
Since then, conservative religious and anti-abortion groups have asked their supporters to flood Senate Republicans with messages opposing Specter's chairmanship. The Judiciary Committee controls the approval process for the president's nominees to the federal bench.
“The prospect of Chairman Specter in the Judiciary Committee is a real and present threat to pro-life judges and to pivotal legislation like the marriage amendment [that would ban same-sex marriage],” wrote Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, in a Nov. 10 e-mail newsletter. “We know Arlen Specter is hostile to pro-life judges, and he has said that he would have voted against the marriage amendment earlier this year if given the opportunity. The committee is simply too important for the issues that won elections last week to put in Specter's control.”
Since Election Day exit polls showed that an unexpectedly large number of voters cited “moral values” as their preeminent concern when casting their ballots, socially conservative groups have claimed that as endorsement of their agenda. As such, many have said they expect Bush to implement policies and nominate judges that oppose abortion rights and gay rights.
Despite the opposition, Specter may still survive. He has repeatedly attempted to clarify his comments, claiming that he was only saying Senate Democrats are likely to filibuster Supreme Court nominees who might take extremist positions on abortion rights or other issues.
According to several media reports, Specter has been calling his fellow senators to reassure them that he would not impose a “litmus test” on Bush's nominees to the federal bench. The Associated Press reported Nov. 10 that Texas Sen. John Cornyn, one of the Judiciary Committee's most conservative members, said Specter would satisfy his critics if he issued a public statement saying he would not oppose Bush's nominees.
But that didn't satisfy many conservative groups. The Hill, a newspaper that covers Congress, quoted an unnamed Senate Republican aide on Nov. 10 as saying Senate Republican leaders were worried that the issue was not fading among the party's conservative base.
“This is huge with the base. It's mushrooming, and it's not going away,” he said, according to the paper.
As many as 20 conservative groups — including the Family Research Council, Concerned Women for America, and the National Review magazine — have opposed Specter's elevation to chairman.
Beverly LaHaye, CWA founder and chairperson, sent a Nov. 4 letter to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) opposing Specter. She also copied it to members of the Judiciary Committee. In it she said, “Sen. Specter has signaled in advance that he does not intend to conduct the Judiciary Committee in a fair and impartial manner. Therefore, he has disqualified himself from consideration for that position.”
Few prominent Republicans have publicly come to the senator's defense.
The Judiciary Committee's members will have the first shot at deciding whether Specter should become chairman. Whichever way they vote, the decision can be appealed to the full Senate Republican Conference, which is chaired by Specter's Pennsylvania colleague, Sen. Rick Santorum.
Even though Santorum and Bush are more conservative than Specter on social issues, both campaigned heavily for him earlier this year, when Specter faced a tough primary challenge from a social conservative.