Politics
Senate leader says GOP won't tolerate filibusters


Now that Republicans have increased their majority, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tennessee) says they won't allow Democrats to filibuster President Bush's judicial nominees.

Republicans have 55 seats in the Senate. The number is still short of the 60 needed to break a filibuster but Frist told the conservative Federalist Society that the practice of holding back nominees will end "one way or another."

Democrats blocked 10 of Bush's most controversial nominees. One was William G. Myers III, whose record as the Department of Interior's top lawyer drew objections from tribes nationwide. He had been nominated for a spot on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which hears a large number of Indian law cases.

Get the Story:
Frist Warns on Filibusters Over Bush Nominees (The New York Times 11/12)
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