Washington — Insisting he has no litmus test, the Republican in line to head the Senate Judiciary Committee pledged Sunday not to stall President Bush's judicial nominees, even if the prospective judges oppose abortion rights.
The White House expressed confidence its choices would get a fair hearing.
Sen. Arlen Specter, a moderate from Pennsylvania who backs abortion rights, said he has supported judicial nominees in the past who do not agree with the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion.
"The fact is that I have supported all of President Bush's nominees in committee and on the floor. I have never applied a litmus test," Specter said on CBS' "Face the Nation."
Right after Tuesday's election, Specter set off a furor among conservatives when he said anti-abortion judges were unlikely to be confirmed by the newly elected Senate.
He said Bush has had trouble getting some of his nominees confirmed because of Democratic filibusters. He added: "I would expect the president to be mindful of the considerations which I am mentioning."
Filibusters, a bill-killing tactic of unlimited debate, remain possible in the new Senate because the Republicans' 55-45 majority falls five votes short of the 60 needed to cut off debate.
On Sunday, Specter said he was only pointing out a political fact: Republicans alone lack the votes to quash a Democratic filibuster of a Bush nominee. He also said his support for abortion rights would not get in the way of a judge who didn't back those rights.
"Although I am pro-choice, I have supported many pro-life nominees," Specter said.
On "Fox News Sunday," Bush's political adviser Karl Rove said Bush would nominate only judges who would "strictly apply the law, strictly interpret the Constitution" from the bench.
"He views judges as the impartial umpires," Rove said. "They shouldn't be activist legislators who just happen to wear robes and never face election, ... (who) feel free to pursue their own personal or political agenda."
Rove said Specter had assured the president that he would make certain all Bush's appellate nominees receive a prompt hearing and an up-or-down vote by the full Senate.
"Senator Specter's a man of his word, and we'll take him at his word," Rove said.
Meanwhile, Rove said Bush in his second term "absolutely" would push for a constitutional amendment that says marriage consists only of the union of a man and a woman. Rove added that the president believed states could deal with the issue of civil unions between gay people, an arrangement that if enacted would grant same-sex partners most or all the rights available to married couples.
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