President Bush Won’t Withdraw Harriet Miers, Senators Differ on Outcome 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
October 24, 2005
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — As Republican and Democrat senators disagreed on the likely outcome of Harriet Miers’ nomination for the Supreme Court, a White House spokesman says President Bush does not plan to withdraw the nomination and expects her to be confirmed.
Bush spokesman Scott McClellan said the president is committed to supporting Miers’ nomination all the way up to a vote in the full Senate.
"He’s confident that she will be confirmed because as senators come to know her like the president knows her, we’re confident that they will recognize she will make an outstanding Supreme Court justice," McClellan said Monday.
Those comments came after pro-abortion New York Sen. Charles Schumer, a Democrat, predicted Miers’ bid would be defeated.
Schumer told NBC’s "Meet the Press" on Sunday that Miers’ nomination may not make it out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is expected to begin hearings the week of November 7.
"I think, if you were to hold the vote today, she would not get a majority, either in the Judiciary Committee or on the floor," he said. "I think there is maybe one or two on the Judiciary Committee who have said they’d support her as of right now."
But Sen. Arlen Specter, the pro-abortion Republican who heads the judicial panel, disputed Schumer’s portrait of the situation. He said most senators are waiting until after the hearings to make up their minds.
"There are no votes one way or another," he said on CBS’ "Face the Nation" over the weekend.
Meanwhile, pro-life Sen. Sam Brownback told "Fox News Sunday" that he has not seen "anything coming from the White House that says that they’re going to pull this nomination."
"They’re doing everything they can to prepare Harriet Miers for the hearings right now," he added.
Brownback, who has been skeptical about Miers’ pro-life beliefs on abortion and how she would potentially rule on a case to reverse the Roe v. Wade decision, did not reveal how he would vote. He is a member of the Judiciary Committee.
