New York Sen. Hillary Clinton and her Massachusetts colleague Ted Kennedy have defeated the Bush administration in its 28-month-long fight to install Miguel Estrada on the federal appellate court.
In a letter obtained by the Wall Street Journal on Thursday, Estrada tells the White House that he is withdrawing his nomination to return to private practice and "to regain the ability to make long-term plans for my family."
The Journal credited Clinton and Kennedy for playing hardball politics against a GOP that remains all too willing to accept their outrageous tactics.
"[Estrada's] withdrawal should embarrass Republicans who have been outwitted on judgeships by Ted Kennedy and Hillary Rodham Clinton, who are orchestrating the first filibusters of appellate-court nominations in American history," the paper said. "Democrats have paid no political price for raising the 'advice and consent' standard for Senate confirmation to 60 votes from a simple majority."
Instead of forcing Democrats to stage the far more arduous traditional Senate filibuster that would have forced their members to participate in a round-the-clock ordeal, Republicans allowed the Senate to continue with its regular business.
"The rout will continue," warned the Journal, "so long as Senate Republicans would rather lose on nominations than sacrifice a night's sleep by forcing Democrats to keep talking on the Senate floor or otherwise playing as rough a political game."
President Bush expressed outrage at the treatment Estrada received.
"Mr. Estrada received disgraceful treatment at the hands of 45 United States Senators during the more than two years his nomination was pending," President Bush said in a statement issued Thursday on Air Force One while on his way to speak in Kansas City, Mo., on the economy.
"Despite his superb qualifications and the wide bipartisan support for his nomination, these Democrat Senators repeatedly blocked an up-or-down vote that would have led to Mr. Estrada's confirmation. The treatment of this fine man is an unfortunate chapter in the Senate's history," Bush added.
The president said he respected Estrada's decision and wished Estrada and his family the best.
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Bush Administration
Sen. Hillary Clinton
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