US Democrats wary of Roberts high court nomination

By Thomas Ferraro

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Senate Democrats voiced
concerns about President Bush’s nomination of conservative John
Roberts for the Supreme Court on Tuesday but said was too early
to know if they will try to deny him confirmation.

Special interest groups from the right and left quickly
began their own war of words that will likely fuel any national
debate and Senate battle.

Roberts, 50, who served in Republican administrations under
former Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, will
begin making visits to senators on Capitol Hill on Wednesday.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat who
had urged Bush to offer a “consensus nominee,” said, “I will
not pre-judge this nomination.”

“The president has made his choice,” Reid said. “Now the
Senate will do its job of deciding whether to confirm John
Roberts to a lifetime seat on the Supreme Court.”

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Tennessee Republican,
said, “Judge Roberts is the kind of outstanding nominee that
will make America proud.”

“I urge my fellow senators to join me in making sure the
(confirmation) process is fair … and that we have an up or
down vote on Judge Roberts’ nomination before the Supreme Court
begins its new term on October 3,” Frist said.

It was unclear if the Republican-led Senate will confirm
Roberts by then as Bush requested — or if Democrats will put
up a lengthy fight that could include a procedural hurdle known
as a filibuster.

Democrats blocked 10 of Bush’s most conservative federal
appeals court nominees during the president’s first term. But
Roberts was not among them.

In fact, Roberts was confirmed in 2003 by the full Senate
without any recorded opposition to a seat on the U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

But Democrats said a nomination to the Supreme Court means
he will face more questions.

“It is a whole new ballgame,” said Sen. Charles Schumer, a
New York Democrat who sits on the Judiciary Committee that will
hold confirmation hearings, likely in September. (additional
reporting by Joanne Kenen)