WE'LL TRADE YOU 14 JUDGES FOR AN FCC SPOT :

Deal at Hand On Nominees (Paul Kane, June 20, 2002, Roll Call)

"We had a good conversation with Senator Lott yesterday," Daschle said Wednesday, referring to Minority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.), "but we want to have a conversation with the White House to avoid further confusion."

Senate Republicans were more certain that a deal was in hand, so much so that some aides and Senators privately confirmed the deal's basic framework: 14 pending judicial nominations would be quickly confirmed, most likely before the Fourth of July recess, in exchange for the speedy confirmation of Jonathan Adelstein, a Daschle aide who has been recommended to fill a commissioner's spot on the FCC.

In democracy as in the making of sausage, you really don't want to watch the process if you have a weak stomach. Posted by Orrin Judd at June 19, 2002 11:02 PM