There were widespread reports yesterday that Bill Frist and Harry Reid have been engaged in intense negotiations since late last week, trying to find some compromise to steer away from the looming nuclear option showdown. Yesterday, those discussions came to an abrupt halt.
Talks by the Senate’s top two leaders to try and avert a showdown over President Bush’s judicial nominees came to a halt on Monday.
“The negotiations are over,” declared Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, as he emerged from a meeting with his Republican counterpart, Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee.
“I’ve tried to compromise (but) they want all or nothing, and I can’t do that.” Reid told reporters. “So now it will be decided on the Senate floor, hopefully this week.”
Reid added that he doesn’t believe Frist is even “capable” of “working something out on this.” On this, Reid couldn’t be more right. At this point, Frist has no options.
Frist can’t agree to a deal that would leave a single Bush nominee behind, he can’t delay the fight, and perhaps most importantly, he doesn’t even know if he has the votes to win a floor fight. Discussions with Reid were probably a waste from the start — Frist simply didn’t have any room to move. No wonder Frist came to the negotiating table saying, “Give me everything I want and then we’ll talk.”
Indeed, USA Today reported this morning that Pennsylvania’s Arlen Specter and Virginia’s John Warner are “reluctant” to back the nuclear option should a vote come up this week. And if Specter and Warner vote against the nuclear option, it’s hard to envision a scenario in which Frist wins.
This does not mean, however, that all negotiations have ceased. In fact, the end of talks between Frist and Reid actually increases talk among other senators who still hope to strike a compromise.
As of last week, lawmakers who had been working on a deal scaled back their efforts out of deference to the party leaders. Now that the leaders have stopped talking, caucus discussions have begun again. Trent Lott is no longer part of the search for a compromise, but John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) are talking.
Under one possible plan — called the “six-by-six” deal and circulated in writing among lawmakers yesterday — Dems would only block three nominees but allow every other controversial nominee to be confirmed on the Senate floor. Republicans, in turn, would agree to leave the filibuster rule in place, at least through 2006. (To call this an equitable “compromise” is almost comical.)
Barring the success of “six-by-six,” the nominations of Janice Rogers Brown and Priscilla Owen will come to the floor this week, as soon as the Senate wraps up consideration of its transportation bill. Which side will have the votes? Senate Majority Whip Mitch McConnell (R-Ken.) insists he has the 50 he needs, but Reid struck an optimistic note yesterday: “I’m confident and hopeful that there will be six Republican senators who will be profiles in courage.”
Stay tuned.