Senator denies abortion-rights litmus test

By Jennifer C. Kerr
The Associated Press

Sen. Arlen Specter promised fairness for nominees.

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WASHINGTON — Insisting he has no litmus test, the Republican in line to head the Senate Judiciary Committee pledged yesterday not to stall President Bush's judicial nominees, even if the prospective judges oppose abortion rights.

The White House expressed confidence that its choices would get a fair hearing.

Sen. Arlen Specter, a moderate from Pennsylvania who backs abortion rights, said he has supported judicial nominees in the past who do not agree with the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion.

"The fact is that I have supported all of President Bush's nominees in committee and on the floor. I have never applied a litmus test," Specter said on CBS' "Face the Nation."

Looking ahead to the post-election session of Congress that begins Nov. 16, House Speaker Dennis Hastert said he thought House and Senate negotiators should be able to resolve their differences over competing versions of legislation to overhaul U.S. intelligence agencies. With the election producing stronger Republican majorities in both the House and Senate, Hastert, R-Ill., also spoke of the need "to find solutions, and we should do it on a bipartisan basis."

A newcomer to the capital, Sen.-elect Barack Obama, D-Ill., said the election indicated to him that "people want to get beyond the slash-and-burn, scorched-earth politics that I think has become the custom in Washington."

Meanwhile, White House political adviser Karl Rove said Bush in his second term "absolutely" would push for a constitutional amendment that says marriage consists only of the union of a man and a woman. Rove added that the president believes states can deal with the issue of civil unions between gay people, an arrangement that if enacted would grant same-sex partners most or all the rights available to married couples.

Right after Tuesday's election, Specter set off a furor among conservatives when he said anti-abortion judges were unlikely to be confirmed by the newly elected Senate. He said Bush has had trouble getting some of his nominees confirmed because of Democratic filibusters, and added, "I would expect the president to be mindful of the considerations which I am mentioning."

Yesterday, Specter said he was only pointing out a political fact: Republicans alone lack the votes to quash a Democratic filibuster of a Bush nominee.
 
"Although I am pro-choice, I have supported many pro-life nominees," Specter added.

On "Fox News Sunday," Rove said Bush would nominate only judges who would "strictly apply the law, strictly interpret the Constitution" from the bench.

Rove said Specter has assured the president all appellate nominees receive a prompt hearing and an up-or-down vote by the full Senate.

"Senator Specter's a man of his word, and we'll take him at his word," Rove said.

Some conservatives are pressing hard to prevent Specter from chairing the Judiciary Committee.