Conservatives Will Accept No Further Obstruction on Judges
ACU says Republicans must not allow future filibusters of qualified judicial nominees

ALEXANDRIA, VA -The American Conservative Union, the nation's oldest and largest Conservative grass roots organization, today expressed disappointment with the "deal" cut by Republican and Democratic Senators last night that could prevent future up or down votes on Presidential judicial nominees, but called on those Republicans who participated in the negotiations to make certain that their Democratic colleagues actually live up to their promise to refrain from filibustering future qualified nominees except under "extraordinary circumstances."

The pledge was made as part of a last minute compromise on judicial filibusters, and ACU expects all signatories to respect the good faith of the agreement and work to prevent any future filibusters of qualified nominees.

"The Senators who are part of this deal must reject that idea that the appointment of a conservative to the bench constitutes the "extraordinary circumstance" the Democrats believe justifies use of the filibuster," said Keene. "Conservatives will consider a filibuster based on an ideological litmus test a blatant violation of the compromise agreement. If the pledge to end partisan obstruction is violated, Conservatives will once again call on Senate leaders to invoke the Constitutional option and will expect those Senators who brokered this deal to join them in doing so."

Under the compromise reached last night, seven Republican and seven Democratic Senators agreed to end the filibuster on three of President Bush's current nominees and pledged to allow future nominees an up or down vote except under "extraordinary circumstances." The Republicans who signed on to the agreement promised, in turn, to oppose a rule change to end judicial filibusters so long as Democrats hold to their promise in good faith.