PROVIDENCE, R.I.—Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse said he would carefully vet U.S. District Judge William E. Smith, who was recently nominated by President Bush to serve on a Boston-based federal appeals court, to make sure that he was "not a stalking horse for Bush ideology."
The president earlier this month tapped Smith, a federal judge in Rhode Island for the last five years, to sit on the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Whitehouse, a first-term Democrat and a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Bush was "contentious" and "unhelpful" in selecting Smith. He also said previous Bush nominees have vowed to follow judicial precedents only to go back on their word after taking the bench.
In particular, Whitehouse said he wanted Smith to recognize Row v. Wade, the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision establishing abortion rights.
"You've got to make sure that the guy's not a stalking horse for Bush ideology," Whitehouse said. "That's an issue that needs to be put to rest."
Whitehouse said an argument could be made for rejecting Smith regardless of what he says during the confirmation process, or for leaving the vacancy unfilled until after Bush leaves office. But he said he was open to giving Smith a chance to explain his views.
The 1st Circuit hears appeals from federal cases in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire and Puerto Rico.
If confirmed by the Senate, Smith would replace Judge Bruce Selya, who announced last year that he was taking senior status after serving full-time on the court for 20 years.
Bush also recently nominated U.S. Magistrate Judge Lincoln Almond to serve on the U.S. District Court in Rhode Island.
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Information from: The Providence Journal, http://www.projo.com/
