Only 14 U.S. appeals court nominees have been sent to the Senate so far. There are about 100 lower court vacancies, and if a Supreme Court justice retires before January 2005, Bush would pick his replacement. Democrats refused to speculate on what would happen to Bush's nominees once they take over the Senate. While all three could claim the chairmanship, Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said he expected Leahy to have a second term as chairman. Leahy ran the committee in January before President Bush was inaugurated and Republicans took control of the Senate.
Republicans say they are holding out hope for bipartisanship with judicial nominations.
There should be no real argument because I treated them well. I think that a Democratic majority, with a slim majority as it would be, would have an obligation to give the nominations fair consideration. Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore discusses the responsibilities and challenges he faces in reviewing death penalty cases in his state. Pages will open in a new browser window External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive. An AOL Time Warner Company.